


Party at "Recon"

by Tinadapenguin1



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Friendship, Gen, M/M, Multi, Partying lol, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-01-14 19:17:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1277821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinadapenguin1/pseuds/Tinadapenguin1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern day AU, in which Jean is a DJ for local popular club called "Recon". He pays little attention to the people he meets, that is, until he meets a certain freckle- faced man with an intoxicating smile. They're all at least 21, so the drinking is legal. Ratings may change as the story continues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

     Jean wiped the sweat that had made its way unto his brow away. His arms and lower back were aching, but he felt oddly exhilarated. He always did whenever he was in the middle of a show. Well, that's what Connie called it. Jean was a DJ at a club that seemed to get bigger with every year. Connie was the MC. Connie always called the nights that they worked together 'shows' but Jean called it life. Besides, it wasn't like he had much else. Well, whatever it was called, it wasn't over just yet. The club was still packed with people, many of them jumping in rhythm with his music. He pressed his headphones closer to his ear as he continued the scratch the vinyl player. He continued to do so at a fast pace, simultaneously scratching the vinyl player and twisting the various knobs on his board that altered the pith of the music. He didn't slow down until he could see Erwin, the owner of the club, from the corner of his eye. Erwin made a cutting motion, signaling for them to wrap up. Jean glanced over at Connie, who thankfully also had seen the signal.

     “Now let's give it up for the DJ!” Connie shouted, motioning toward Jean. At this, the roaring sound of the crowd's cheering nearly drowned out the music. Jean smirked. _Audience or not, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you guys show me up_. With that, Jean quickened the pace for the climax. With a satisfied smirk, he ended the song with one final scratch. The lights shifted from the brightly colored strobe lights to normal ceiling lights. The crowd simmered down, and eventually dwindled to nothing. Connie removed the hood of his jacket, but kept the white hat on. He stretched his arms up. Even with all that energy he seemed to have, he was still tired. Jean couldn't blame him. He was in a bit of pain too. His arms felt like they were on fire, and his back was achy and stiff. Screw the gym, just become a DJ. Jean twisted around until he heard his back pop. He then began to shut off the various speakers that were around his booth and folding up the cords to tuck them into shelf within his stationary booth. Once Jean finished that, he stood up, popping his back one more time, before heading to the bar.

     “I'm gonna get a drink,” Jean said. Connie gave a small chuckle.

     “If he'll let you,” he retorted, a smile still on his face. Jean waved a hand, still making his way to the bar. There was a brunette who worked as the bar keep. His large eyes seemed to boar into the glass the he was feverishly cleaning. He was so focused on the task at hand, that he didn't even notice Jean until he pulled a chair out. The young man looked up, and his brows immediately furrowed in agitation.

    “Oh hell no! Back off Jean, I just closed this place down!” the brunette practically shouted.

     “Ah c'mon, Jeager! I've been at this all night,” Jean propped his head up on his hand, resting his elbow on the bar.

     “The fuck do you think  _I've_ been doing?!” he retorted.

    “Eren, calm down,” came a soft voice from the back room. Jean tilted his head to get a better look at the speaker. A young- looking man walked up toward Eren. He had blond hair that just barely reached his shoulders, and bangs that slightly covered his thick eyebrows without covering his big blue eyes. Eren turned toward the blond, his angry expression quickly melting away. The next person to come from the back room caught Jean's attention. She was a beautiful woman, who looked close to their age. Her black hair barely brushed past her neck, which was shrouded by a red scarf.

    “Jesus, Mikasa! It's hot as hell, why do you always wear that thing,” Eren asked incredulously. As he did so, he reached for glass. The woman, Mikasa, merely shrugged. Eren turned back toward Jean. “What do you want?” Jean took his eyes off Mikasa and focused on Eren.

    “Whatever's close,” Jean drawled out. “I just need a drink.” Eren turned and prepared the drink, leaving Jean with the blond, who's name he had yet to learn, and Mikasa. “So...you guys friends with this nut? You go to the same college?” Jean asked, jerking his thumb in Eren's direction, gaining an exasperated “Hey” from said male. The blond let out an almost nervous sounding laugh. He faced Eren with a smile. It was then that Jean noticed that some of his hair was pulled up in a half ponytail.

    “Yes, I've known Eren since we were children, but I go to Sania University,” he said with a soft smile. “Mikasa goes there too.”  _Hmmm... childhood friends, eh?_ Jean mused to himself. His attention was drawn to Eren, who was holding a shot glass filled with an orange drink.

     “I can't give this to you until I know you aren't driving,”Eren said, holding the drink away from Jean. The latter let out a sigh.

     “I forgot about that....” Jean said trailing off, running his hand through his sandy- brown hair. Eren sighed at the motion.

     “Just leave your car in the back, I'll take you home,” he said setting down the drink. “It's just oj and vodka.” Jean gave a smile, lifting the glass in Eren's direction as if he was giving a toast before drinking it whole. Eren took the glass to make more. All four brought their attention to the three people that made their way toward them. One of the group was Connie, the shortest of the group. The other two were the bouncers of the club. One was a blond, who was most certainly built like a stereotypical bouncer. From his broad muscular shoulder, to the shape of his face, everything about the man screamed intimidation. The other seemed far less suited for the job. He was the tallest of the group with shaggy dark brown hair. Though he would most likely tower over any possible trouble makers, his face showed nothing but passivity and perpetual nervousness. Eren asked if the others wanted a drink as he set down Jean's glass; all of whom declined. Jean took a swig of the drink and glanced at Eren's friends, confusion evident on their faces.

     “Ay, Eren,” Jean called out setting down the drink. “You plan on introducing you friends anytime soon? I still don't know blondy's name.” The blond male repeated the words, almost offended.

     “Shut it, Horseface!” Eren cleared his throat. “This Mikasa and this is Armin,” he said motioning toward his friends. He then motioned toward the three newcomers.      “This is Connie, Reiner and Bertolt.” The blond, Reiner, smiled widely and extended his hand to Armin and Mikasa. The two looked at each other, then to Reiner's hand and the proceeded to shake his hand with polite smile. Well, Armin smiled anyway.

     “How's it goin?” Reiner asked the pair.

     “It's good. We just got hired to help out in the bar,” Armin said with a smile. Reiner looked toward Mikasa. “You don't talk much, do you?” he asked. He merely earned a shrug. Reiner emitted a booming laugh. “You'd get along great with my buddy Bertl here.” he said slapping the man on the back. The tall man, Bertolt, rubbed the spot.

     “She seems more like Annie,” Bertolt mumbled. Eren sat down Jean's fourth drink.

     “Yeah! That fits! That girl is hella scary,” Eren said. “Don't tell her I said that.” The group continued to chit chat, until Erwin made his way to the group. He was a tall man, clean cut and with striking facial features.

     “Sorry to intrude, but it's getting late and I need to shut down the club.” he said. He turned to Armin and Mikasa. “I meant to ask you two earlier, but how do you think you like the club?”

     “It's very nice. Thank you for the job,” Armin said politely.

     “Thank you for the job,” Mikasa repeated. Erwin smiled at the pair. “You'll be a very good fit here.” With that, Erwin turned to head back from the way that he came, most likely to begin to turn off all of the lights in the club. Jean threw back his fifth drink before standing up.

     “Thanks, Jeager. Do you want me to help you clean?” he asked. Eren took the empty glasses and told Jean not to worry about it. Once Eren was done cleaning, he, Mikasa, Armin and Jean said their final good byes to the people who were still in the club and headed to Eren's car. Eren opened the passenger door for Mikasa, while Armin and Jean got into the back. Jean looked out the window during the car ride. He continued to do that until he was distracted by the sound of Armin's laughter. He peered over to see that Armin was on his phone, laughing at whatever was on it.

     “You Snap Chatting Marco again?” Eren asked, peeking at Armin from the rear- view mirror. Armin gave a muffled “Yeah” that could just barely be heard over his laughter. Jean glanced over at Armin's phone. The man in the picture seemed to be about Jean's age. The first thing that he noticed were the freckles that seemed to dust his cheeks and his nose. His hair was short and black, with bangs that just barely brushed his forehead. Their was a small dog, a black Pomeranian to be exact,  that he was holding on top of his head and his eyes were crossed with his tongue sticking out. Jean noticed that his eyes were a deep brown. Even with such an odd face, Jean noticed that the man was very handsome.

     “What's his name?” Jean asked curiously. Armin looked up from the phone.

     “This is Marco. He's just being goofy,” Armin the last bit with an almost nervous laugh. Jean nodded a bit and looked back out the window. He just wanted to go to sleep. It was almost as if he had skipped straight to the hangover without even being drunk.

     Once he unlocked the door, Jean walked straight to his bed. He flopped down, kicking his shoes off in the process. He laid there for several minutes, not moving. For some reason, the man that Armin had talked to flashed into his mind. _He's handsome, I guess..._ Jean rolled over, not even bothering with getting underneath the sheets. _Marco..._

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

****      Jean rolled over in his bed, trying to block the sun from further interrupting his sleep. The drinks he had last night were still getting to him. He had one hell of hangover. Jean knew he had one too many drinks, so he had no one to blame but himself. He heard a buzzing, but assumed that it was merely due to his hangover, but when he heard the buzz continue at inconsistent pace, he realized that it was his phone. Jean shifted in his bed, scooting closer to his night stand. His phone was next to his alarm clock. His hand was hoovering over the phone when it buzzed again. It was a quick buzz, so he knew it was just text messages. He picked up his phone and rolled over onto his back. The phone vibrated yet again.  _ Who the hell is texting me? _ Jean though irritably. He swiped his finger over the section that unlocked the phone. He went straight to his texts and saw at least five from Eren. He paused, but eventually opened them.

**“Ayy!! Ay Jean!”** was the first text. Jean couldn't help but smile. The kid was a goof. He continued scrolling the texts.

     “ **Jean!! Answeeeer me!”**

**“I'm so bored, man”**

**“Hey, I'm gonna come over soon.”**

**“C'mon yo! Answer me!!”** Jean laughed out loud. He gave a quick text to telling him that it was okay for him to come over. Eren had a habit of checking in on Jean when he was drunk. He continued texting Eren until he got the message that he was getting in his car. Jean set his phone back on the nights stand and sat up. He needed a shower. Jean got out of the bed and went to his closet to pick out his clothes. He got comfortable jeans and a loose fitting T- shirt. After setting his clothes on the bed, Jean removed his night clothes, grabbed a towel and went to the shower. Once he was done, he checked his phone to see how close Eren was to his apartment. Thanks to the money he made as a DJ, he was able to buy a one bedroom studio apartment. He simply couldn't do roommates, something he learned the hard way when he spent his first semester in college. He made his way to his living room and sat on the couch. 

Jean had dozed off when he heard a knock at his door. He sat up looking mildly confused. He wasn't able to connect the dots until he heard Eren's loud voice from the other side of the door.

     “C'mon Jean! Don't be an ass!” Eren shouted. Jean sat up from the couch and walked to the door, but he didn't open it.

     “Say the magic word,” Jean said in a sing song voice. Jean snickered at the “Fuck you.” he earned from Eren. He opened the door and turned back to sit down on the couch. Eren closed the door behind him and sat bedside Jean.

     “So, how's it going?” Eren said, propping his feet up on Jean's legs. Seeming to not even care, Jean reclined in the couch.

     “Nothing much, man. I've got a killer headache,” he said, rubbing his temples. Eren frowned at this. “I knew I shouldn't have gave you any drinks,” he grumbled.            “Are you an alcoholic or something?” Jean stopped rubbing his temples and glanced over at Eren. “Of course not! I just have a hangover,” he said tiredly. Eren moved his legs off of Jean's and made his way to the kitchen.

     “Bottle or tap?” he asked. Jean shifted on the couch so that he could face Eren.

     “Bottle. Help yourself to whatever's in there,” he said lazily as he rolled back over on the couch so that he could lay down. He heard a “tch” from Eren, who proceeded to rustle around on the kitchen. When Eren returned to the couch, he had two bottles of water and a bag of chips. He stood near the couch and waited for Jean to move his feet. Once Jean sat up, Eren plopped down on the couch.

     “Erwin picked the perfect week to do renovations on the club. I don't feel like doing shit,” Eren said while taking a drink of water.

     “Same... but my car is still there,” Jean muttered, rubbing his temples.

     “Don't worry, I'm sure Erwin figured something out. And drink your damn water,” Eren spat out irritably. “If I had known I was going to be your damn drunk baby- sitter I would've stayed home.”

     “Hey, no one told you to come over. And I'm not drunk! Just hungover,” Jean complained. Even so, he took a drink of his water. Eren grumbled something but left the subject alone.

     “So, what'd you think of Armin and Mikasa?” Eren asked after a few minutes of silence. Jean paused and set his drink down.

     “Armin seems like a pretty nice guy... he goes to Sania U, so I'm assuming he's pretty smart.” Eren nodded proudly.

     “He was the Valedictorian at our high school,” he said, beaming. Jean hummed in acknowledgment.

     “That Mikasa girl was pretty hot... I've got a thing for straight black hair,”Jean said. Eren frowned.

     “Then I'll tell her to dye it and keep it curly from now on,” he said. “But anyway, I'm glad you like them. I don't want them to feel like I'm their only friend there. Well... I'm more worried about Armin since he can be kind of shy.” Jean picked up his water and drank until the bottle was empty. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Eren sudden;y hopped up and down in his seat. Startled by the sudden burst of energy, Jean simply stared at the brunette until he finally spoke.

     “Ok so I totally forgot my whole reason for coming over!”

     “Ok... so spit out.”

     “Aight smart ass. Anyway, I'm having a party next weekend. Well... more like a get together to congratulate Armin and Mikasa on the new job. I'm planning on inviting some people from 'Recon' and some of our friends. You wanna come?” Eren was practically in Jean's lap, seeing as how he had scooted closer to Jean with every sentence. _Does he think this will make me say yes?_ Jean thought, almost bitterly. Even so, he could never say no to a good party....

     “Alright,” he conceded, lightly shoving Eren away. Eren pumped his hands into the air letting out a little cheer. Jean rolled his eyes, but was smiling. He had gone out drinking and to parties with Eren plenty of times. The guy knew how to have fun, that was for sure. Jean shoved Eren again.

     “Alright, alright already,” he said in an exasperated tone. They continued talking for a few hours. They talked about anything and everything, from how they though Reiner and Bertolt should just make it official already, to regrets about life choices after high school.

     “So... you really wish you had stayed in college?” Eren asked, his legs pulled up to his chest, and his head resting on the cushion of the couch. Jean was sitting in a similar position, facing Eren.

     “Yeah.. I mean... I went for one semester but... it just felt like it wasn't for me you know? So I just went ahead and dropped out. Don't get me wrong, I love my work as a DJ. I just wonder how different things could've been if I had stayed in school.” Jean said. Eren tilted his head.

     “Are your parents still mad?” he asked. They had talked about this type of stuff before, but for some reason, Jean was willing to be way more open than was usual.

     “Once they saw how good of a DJ I was, they kind of got over it.”

     “Yeah, didn't you go viral on YouTube or something?” Eren asked, shifting his position.

     “Yeah, but that was just shitty remixes and stuff.” Jean responded.

     “Still...” Silence came over the two of them. It was strange to think about how when they first met, they hated each other. Jean had already been at the club for at least a year. But on Eren's second day at “Recon”, they had gotten into a fist fight. All Jean could remember was that it over something that at the time had really offended him, but looking back on it, was actually extremely petty. For week after, they wouldn't even acknowledge each other. It wasn't until they had a second argument that they talked. But at that time...

_“The fuck did you say?” Jean shouted. He was heated. He slammed a record down onto his studio. Connie looked over at Jean, startled. They had just closed down the club, so fortunately, the only people present were workers. Eren slammed a glass down._

_“I called you a punk!” Eren retorted, making his way to the DJ booth. Connie grabbed Jean's shoulders._

_“C'mon you said you wouldn't fight him any more!” Jean started to step down, but Connie kept stepping in front of him. Eren was already half way to the DJ booth when Reiner and Bertolt had walked into the club._

_“What's going on?” Reiner asked. Jean had managed to get past Connie. Jean and Eren were now face to face, but neither had taken a swing yet._

_“The fuck is your problem!” Jean shouted._

_“All you ever do is give me attitude. You're pissing me off! You got a problem? Then say it!” Eren shouted back. They were yelling back and forth at each other, putting their hands in each others faces. Reiner and Bertolt stood in between the two, while Connie tried to calm Eren and Jean down._

_“Guys, c'mon. Just drop it already!” Connie shouted exasperated. Reiner tried to guide Eren back to the bar, as Bertolt did the same for Jean._

_“Fuck you!” Eren shouted over Reiner's shoulder._

_“Well, fuck you too!” Jean shouted back. Eren broke past Reiner and Jean broke past Bertolt. The two were fist fighting. They were now a tangled mess of swinging limbs spewing various profanities. Reiner, Bertolt and Connie tried to separate the two. All five came to a sudden stop at the sound of the back doors swinging open. A short man walked through the door frame, a scowl very much apparent on his face._

_“What the hell is going on here?”the man sneered. Reiner, Bertolt and Connie stood up straight, almost as if they were soldiers addressing their captain. Jean and Eren were still on the floor. They both had each other by the front of their shirts. All of them were staring wide eyed at the man who was now standing in front of them with his arms crossed. He looked down at Jean and Eren with a raised eyebrow._

_“You two again?” he asked. At that, Eren popped up from on top of Jean._

_“S-sorry Mr. Levi!” he practically shouted. Jean slowly got to his feet, and rubbed the back of his neck muttering an apology as well._

_“I told you already to drop the 'Mr'. I'm not that old,” he said. Everyone except for Eren seemed to relax. He was still standing stiff as a board. Levi gave a huff._

_“Whatever. You two need to stop with your constant fighting. It's annoying,” he deadpanned. Jean and Eren gave a “Yessir”. Levi grimaced a little, but turned and headed toward the exit._

_“Erwin's closing up shop soon, so go home.” Eren didn't let his posture relax until Levi was completely out of sight. Jean let out a laugh that he had been trying to suppress. Eren turned to him frowning,_

_“What's your problem?” he growled. Jean simply laughed louder._

_“I should be asking you. You almost pissed yourself,” he laughed. Eren turned to him, yelling about how scary Levi was._

_“...so... are they ok now?” Connie asked, looking up at Reiner and Bertolt. The pair shrugged. As long as their fists weren't in each others' faces, then they were doing relatively ok. For the next few days, they were hesitant to really speak, but once Eren made a joke that left Jean near tears, the squashed any previous beef that they had._

     “Hey! You listening to me?” Eren asked, lightly kicking at Jean's side. Jean snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at Eren.

     “No I wasn't. Don't think I will either.” Eren huffed and rolled his eyes.

     “Anyway, I asked if you mind coming over to my place. A few of are just hanging out, and I wanted you to get to know some of them.” Jean raised his eyebrow.

     “So... a party before the party?” Jean asked. Eren nodded with a smile. Jean shrugged his shoulders not really caring. “I guess I can go... when is it?”

     “In three hours.” Jean looked back at the brunette.

     “For real, man?”

     “Hey it's only 4! I was going to order pizza for everybody and everything!” he said, pouting. Jean rolled his eyes and muttered a fine. Eren smiled and pushed himself off the couch.

     “Well, c'mon! We can see if Erwin will let us pick up your car. He might be there,” he said smiling. Jean laid his head back on the couch with a loud and exaggerated groan. Eren rolled his eyes and tugged on Jean's arm, forcing him to stand up.

     Luckily, Erwin was indeed at the Recon, being the hands on person that he is. Jean apologized profusely for leaving his car during such an important time. Erwin waved him off with a smile. Once Jean had gotten into his car, he followed Eren to his apartment. He kept a steady pace behind Eren. They were driving close to Sania University. This was a little surprising. Eren had been to Jean's apartment plenty of times, but he had yet to go to Eren's. Unlike Jean, Eren lived in a three bedroom apartment. The only person in Eren's home was Mikasa. She looked up from her phone to briefly peek at the two before looking back at her phone. Jean and Eren made their way to the couch that Mikasa was sitting. It was a tan couch that was rather long. It was like two regular sized couches put together at a ninety degree angle. Jean turned towards Eren.

     “I'm assuming one of your roommates is Armin.” Eren nodded and sat down. He had come back from the kitchen with coupons.

     “I lucked out. Even though this is technically an apartment for university students, but it's not exclusive. Both of them should be back soon....” Eren said.

     “Who's your other roommate?”

     “Marco Bott.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me way too long with very little results ^^
> 
> This was starting to feel like a JeanxEren but I swear the JeanMarco will come in soon!!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Marco Bott?” Jean repeated.

“Yeah, have you met him or something?” Eren asked, tilting his head a little. Jean faltered.

“No...” Eren smirked at him, but left the subject alone. He took off his shoes, and haphazardly kicked them to the side. Jean did the same. At his home, he never really bothered to take off his shoes until he reached the couch. The majority of his apartment had hardwood flooring, with his bed room being the only room with carpet. However, Eren's apartment was completely different. As far as he could tell from his spot just in front of the door, the small square he was standing in seemed to be the only non- carpeted place. Toeing off his shoes, Jean set them near Eren's and followed behind him toward the couch. Mikasa was sitting on the couch with her back to the arm of the couch, and her legs stretched out along the couch. Instead of making Mikasa move her legs, Eren sat on the other side of the couch, and Jean sat down beside him. Mikasa looked up from her phone.

“Do you know when Armin and Marco are coming back?” Mikasa asked, setting her phone down near her thigh. Why doesn't she just text them herself? Jean thought to himself. Eren scratched the back of his head.

“I think Armin had a late class and Marco said he would wait for him and drive him home,” Eren said. Mikasa hummed in acknowledgment. Though she didn't seem interested in anymore conversation, but she didn't reach for her phone.

“This Marco guy seems pretty nice...” Jean muttered. Eren nodded vigorously.

“Yeah he totally is! Me and Armin were worried about him being, like, a jerk or psycho! But he was so nice.” Mikasa seemed to be nodding on the side. “Don't worry, you'll like him.” As Eren said that, they all turned to the sound of the key turning.

“Speak of the devil...” Eren said, his head tilted toward the door. All three people on the couch turned toward the door. The first person to appear was Armin. The small blond pushed the door open and moved out of the way for the other. The next man who walked up was a bit taller than Armin. His dark bangs just barely brushed past his eyebrows, and freckles dusted the bridge of his nose and his cheeks. Jean tried to stop looking at the man, but he couldn't help himself. Even if the first time he saw the man he was making a goofy face, it was still obvious the man was very handsome. Fortunately for him, Jean had learned to be less obvious and awkward about staring at an attractive person.

“So you're Marco?” Jean asked. The man, who seemed to be distracted, looked up.

“Uhm... yeah...uh, are you afraid of dogs?” he asked. Jean raised an eyebrow.  
“No...” he replied. Marco seemed to suddenly beam happily.

“Alright, I'll go get Peanut right now!” he practically shouted. He excitedly rushed past the couch toward the hallway. Jean assumed that way was where the rooms were. He could faintly hear the sound of a door opened and Marco's voice. After that, Jean heard the loud yipping of a dog. Just then, a small black Pomeranian came running around the corner. It stopped in front of the couch, its tail wagging rampantly. The dog didn't jump on the couch and instead turned toward the spot where Marco was walking. Smiling, the man leaned down and picked up the small dog.

“Mind if we sit down?” he asked with a smile. Armin had already made his way to the couch. Mikasa was now sitting cross- legged, leaning on the arm rest to make room for the others. Eren scooted over, leaving Marco room to sit between him and Jean. Marco took his seat and set the small dog in his lap.

“Sorry, I didn't get to ask, what's your name?” he asked with a bright smile. Jean was taken aback by the smile. It was a nice smile, that much Jean could tell.

“'Uh... Jean. My name's Jean,” he said. Marco's smile stayed on his face as he held out his hand.

“Well, it's nice to meet you Jean!” Jean looked at the hand, and grasped it without hesitation. The handshake was a firm one. Once Marco let go of Jean's hand, he used said hand to scratch at the small dog's ear. The dog accepted the gesture gratefully, it's tail wagging at a fast pace.

“Ayyy, Peanut!” Eren called. The small dog piped up and leaped over Marco, crawling over Armin to sit in Eren's lap.

“You stole my dog,” Marco whined with a pout. Eren stuck out tongue and proceeded to make kissy faces at the dog. Marco rolled his eyes and turned toward Jean.

“So you're a DJ?” he asked. The next hour or so went on smoothly. Jean and Marco talked to each other for the majority of it. Armin also spoke with Jean. The two were definitely very smart. Armin was going into Marine Biology with a minor in Micro Physics. Marco was going into Bio nuclear Engineering. He also took a lot of Communication classes, even if that technically wasn't his major. These guys were complete out if his league when it came to smarts. Even Eren wasn't a complete moron, seeing as how he was doing so well at the Psychology program at his college. I don't really compare to these guys... Jean thought to himself. Jean was suddenly snapped back to the conversation by everyone's attention on him.

“... What?” Jean asked confused. Eren was the first to speak up.

“Keep up man! I said, Reiner and the others should be coming over and I was going to order the pizza. What kind do you want?” Jean rubbed his head, a little embarrassed.

“Oh, um... Pepperoni is good with me.” Eren smiled and pushed himself off f the couch. He grabbed some coupons that were on the glass table and headed to the kitchen to order the pizza. While Eren was on the phone, there was a knock at the door. Armin was the one to get off the couch. He opened the door and moved out of the way of the guests while smiling and greeting them. Connie was the first to walk in. He turned and grabbed the hand of the girl that was behind him. She was a pretty brunette with all of her thick hair pulled back in a ponytail. The girl immediately wrenched free of Connie and wrapped her arms around Armin.

“Oh Armin! It's been so long! I missed you,” the girl practically screeched while jumping up and down. Armin, seeming to be used to this, merely smiled.

“Yes, yes... I know,” he said and then turned toward Connie. “Is she already drunk?” Connie nodded, gaining an indignant huff from the girl. Connie smiled and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, turning her pouting face into a bright wide smile. Eren walked in from the kitchen.

“Jesus, Sasha it's only been a month,” he said, reclaiming his seat. Connie sat next to Jean and Sasha plopped down next to Connie. The two males bumped fists and talked for a bit. To Jean, Connie wasn't just a coworker, he was also a friend. He had met Sasha a while ago, but back then Connie and Sasha were not an item. They were gathered at Jean's apartment. Connie and Sasha had been playfully bullying each other for the whole night. Totally called it though. Jean thought to himself. Eventually, Reiner and Bertolt had made their way to the apartment, with a shorter blonde woman in toe. Her blond hair was pulled back in a bun, her face set in her typical stoic way. Eren looked around the group.

“I thought you were bringing Christa and Ymir,” he said.

“Well, 'Hello' to you too,” Reiner said sarcastically, taking off his shoes and heading toward the group. Bertolt followed Reiner, removing his shoes and neatly setting them to the side. Jean looked over at them.

“Hey guys. Hey Annie, it's been a while,” he said, aiming the last part at the blond. She nodded, taking off her boots and heading toward the group. A little bit after they had arrived, the pizza man knocked at the door. Eren greeted the man and left a rather large tip since there were so many pizzas and the man had gotten to them in good time. Closing the door, Eren mad his way to the group with the pizzas. With that, the real party began. Eren got the drinks, various brands of alcohol as well as some juices.

“So, who has a good drinking game?” Eren asked the group as he set down paper plates.

“Ring of fire!” Reiner shouted loudly. The group gave a simultaneous “No!” All recounting the horror stories of how drunk they had all gotten when they last played. Jean was a little confused. He had never played drinking games with anyone. Even at the club, he typically drank alone.

“Is it really that bad?” he asked.

“See, this is why you need to come over when I ask you!” Eren said. It was true. Eren had invited Jean to many parties, and he always turned him down. He had no problem having Eren over, but Jean was always better with one on one conversations, and he knew how crowded Eren's parties tended to get.

“Now we have to play! Jean needs to at least experience,” Reiner proclaimed. The group gave various complaints but were silenced when Eren threw his hands into the air in exasperation.

“This is punishment for Jean, for never coming over. Sorry guys, we all have to suffer,” Eren said, preparing shot glasses.

“Is... is it really that bad?” Jean repeated. He wasn't too nervous, since he knew he could hold his liquor, but everyone's reactions were a little unsettling.

“It's not that bad if you remember to drink water before you go to bed,” Marco said. He seemed to be doing that so Jean wouldn't get too nervous.

“Don't lie, Marco.” Connie scolded jokingly. Eren stood up.

“Ok, I'm going to get the drinks ready, Armin, you explain the rules. Same rules as last time.” Armin nodded and faced Jean.

“Ok, so to set up the game we have a normal drinking glass in the middle. Then we spread a deck of cards around the glass and make sure that there are no gaps. The rule is to simply not break the circle as we pick up cards. If you break, then you automatically have to take a shot of straight vodka.”

“Is that the only time we drink?” Jean asked, confused. That didn't seem so bad.

“If only...” Bertolt mumbled. Armin continued.

“He's right. Every card means we have to drink. Every time someone picks up the card, we do whatever the rule is for that card. The ace means waterfall. We all have to take a shot. Two means that you have to choose somebody to drink. Three means that you have to take a drink. Four means that all the girls have to drink. Five means that the last person to give the thumbs up is the one who has to drink. Six means that the boys have to drink. Seven means that the last person to point to the sky is the one who has to drink from their drink. Eight means you get a drinking buddy. The person you pick has to drink every time that you do. This continues on until some one else picks up the number eight. Nine means that we have to pick a word and the first person who can't rhyme with it has to take a drink. Ten means you have to pick a category. The first one who can't think of something has to take a drink. Jack means that... what was that one again?” Armin asked.

“Last time we said that we had to pass the card around the group with our mouths and the person who dropped it had to take a drink,” Connie said.

“Oh yeah...Anyway, queen means we play never have I ever. The first time when someone doesn't raise their hand is when we take drinks. That means that their can be multiple people who have to take drinks. King means that you have to add some of your drink to the middle glass. The person to draw the last king has to drink from the middle glass.” Once Armin finished the explanation of the rules, everyone looked toward Jean.

“That... sounds... intense,” Jean said nervously. Eren struggled in the kitchen to try and bring all of the drinks to the group. Without hesitation, Marco stood up to help.

“'Let's eat the pizza before we play... you know, to make sure we don't get sick,” Marco suggested. Everyone seemed to agree and proceeded to eat. Jean used the opportunity to talk to Marco, Armin and Mikasa since he knew less about them. Jean noted how Mikasa was similar to Annie. She seemed rather cold upon first glance, but actually talking to her make you change your mind. Mikasa was actually rather funny. These guys are great! Jean thought. He normally was relatively solitary person, but these guys were pretty cool. He glanced over at the other side of the couch to see Reiner talking loudly to Annie and Eren with his arm wrapped around Bertolt's waist. The taller male seemed content. Jean looked at Eren and Annie sitting so close together. They look pretty cute, maybe I could...

“Jean?” Jean was startled out of his thoughts at the sound of his name. He looked over to see Marco, his head slightly tilted to the side.

“Huh?”

“I asked if you were ready.” Marco repeated.

“Oh... uhm yeah. Yeah, I'm ready.” With that, Eren worked on clearing the table, with help from Bertolt and Reiner. Once the table was clear, Eren set a clear glass in the middle of the table and set a deck of cards in a circle.

“Let's get this thing started!” They made Jean draw first. He drew a Queen, gaining an “oh!” from the group. Jean tapped to his chin.

“Hmmm... never have I ever... had sex in public.” The immediate blush that crept onto Bertolt's face was a definite indicator. Reiner muttered a quiet “damn” before both took a gulp from their drinks.

“We're going to the left!” Eren shouted. That meant that Marco had to go next.

“Fine, fine,” he said with a smile. He plucked his card, which ended up being a king. Marco poured some of his drink into the glass in the middle, and then took a sip. About thirty minutes into the game, the majority of the group was drunk. Connie had agreed to drink for Sasha since she was already drunk, but she broke the circle so many times that he gave up on the promise. Now both were passed out. On Bertolt's turn, she shakily drew a Jack. Bertolt tried to steady his hand so that he could put the card to his lips, but Reiner took the card from him.

“Light weight,” he teased. Reiner put the card to his lips, and kept the card their by sucking in air. He passed it to Armin, who passed it to Eren. Eren then leaned in toward Jean. Jean took the card and turned toward Marco. For some reason, Jean could feel his stomach flip. He felt nervous as he leaned in toward Marco. The two were nearly face to face when Jean felt the card fall from his lips. Marco, already drunk, leaned back with a laugh.

“Hah! Now you have to drink!” Marco said a little too loudly, slurring his words. Jean took his drink, trying to ignore Eren shouting how they should have kissed. Once the night was over, everyone was completely wasted. The rest of the game had been a blur, but there were card strewn everywhere. Even, Annie was drunk, though she was asleep on the couch. Mikasa had her arm wrapped around Eren, murmuring how she would be there to protect him from the “bad guys”. Eren shoved at her, yelling how he was an “independent man who didn't need no woman”. It didn't take long for Jean to pass out. 

When he woke up in the morning, Jean noticed he wasn't lying on the couch. He was too tired to move. He turned his head, feeling the fabric of whatever he was lying on scratch against his cheek. Is this a shirt? Jean thought. It was then that he felt the steady rise and fall of what he was lying on. He sat up and nearly jumped back. He had been lying right on top of Marco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I legit had to look up the rules for ring of fire! OTL It was the only drinking game I knew of other than beer pong.... I know nothing about alcohol.
> 
> And I also wanted to thank you guys for reading!! I really appreciate it :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been awhile ^^
> 
> It's really sad that when you're at a party and you see all these drunk people and your first thought is "This'll be great for my fanfiction." I'm a real dweeb. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Jean practically jumped back, enough so that he ran into Eren. Said brunette murmured tiredly, trying to shove Jean away. Jean stayed in the same position. _Why the hell am I freaking out about? Both of our pants are on... I wasn't... kissing him or anything..._ Even as Jean tried to rationalize that nothing actually happened, he couldn't get his heart to stop pounding in his chest. He wasn't brought back to reality until he could feel wind in his ear. Jean jerked away from cause of the sensation.

“What the fuck, Jeager!” Jean exclaimed, rubbing his ear as if it would remove the sensation from ever even happening.

“You weren't listening to me,” Eren stated. Jean stopped rubbing and looked again toward Marco, who was stirring awake. Eren was smirking, but Jean didn't notice. He was still looking at Marco. Said male was groggily sitting up and rubbing his head.

“Ugh... my head is killing me,” he said starting to stand. “Is anyone sick?” Jean couldn't help but admire how nice this guy was. Even after just waking up, and most likely being hungover, he still was worried about everyone else. Jean looked around the room to also survey the damage. Connie was laying face first in the couch. Mikasa was sitting cross legged on the couch with her head tilted back against the back of the couch. He couldn't tell if she was awake or not. Annie was laying near her and Eren was sitting on the same couch. He shakily stood up and headed toward the kitchen where Marco was. Jean walked into the kitchen after them. He noticed that Bertolt, Armin, Sasha and Reiner weren't in the living room.

“You guys need help?” Jean asked. Marco and Eren were gathering enough cups for all the people in the house and filling them with water from the filter. Marco looked at him with a smile. _He's got a nice smile..._ Jean quickly looked away and noticed Armin. He looked sleepy and staggered toward where everyone was.

“Need some water?” Marco asked with a smile. Armin nodded with a yawn.

“Sasha's in your bathroom Marco... sorry. I've been with her all morning. Bertolt and Reiner are in your bathroom Eren,” he added, taking the glass, most likely to give to Sasha.

“They're not... doing the do... are they?” Eren asked nervously. He had almost dropped the glass when he heard that the pair had been left alone in his room. Armin merely shrugged and headed back to the bathroom. Jean picked up a glass that was filled with water.

“I'll go ahead and check on them. Don't want you pissing yourself,” Jean said with a sneer. He only grabbed one glass, knowing that they most likely weren't... fornicating in Eren's room. If he could take a wild guess, Bertolt was probably sick. He didn't look it, but it took surprisingly very little to make Bertolt sick. Jean could tell that his guess was indeed correct. He could hear the tell- tale sound of someone getting sick. He knew it wasn't Reiner, seeing as how he could hear Reiner's voice over the sounds of the sick person. He walked through Eren's room and stopped at the door frame of the bathroom. Reiner was standing near Bertolt and rubbing his back. Bertolt was sitting on the bathroom floor, his arm on the toilet seat and his head resting on his arm. Jean stepped into the bathroom,setting the water down on the sink counter. Reiner looked up at him, still rubbing Bertolt's back.

“How long has he been like that?” Jean asked.

“Only about ten or twenty minutes,” Reiner answered. “I thought he was going to be fine since he slept through the night. But this morning...” Reiner looked back down, as Bertolt's back heaved.

“Well... the water's right here.” Reiner grunted in acknowledgment, and continued to soothe Bertolt. Jean turned, and walked back to the kitchen.

“Are they ok?” Marco asked, his face etched with worry. Jean waved a hand.

“Yeah, Bertolt's a light weight so...” he trailed off. He looked to the couch and saw that Mikasa and Annie were awake. They looked as if neither of them had a hangover. _Lucky bitches..._ Jean mused bitterly, suddenly reminded of the numbing ache at the back of his head. Jean sat down heavily on the couch. He noticed that Armin was sitting on the love seat, and that Connie was missing.

“Is Connie with Sasha?” he asked. Armin nodded tiredly. Eren and Marco were now in the living room, Eren sprawled out on the floor and Marco sitting beside Jean. Now came the awkward part. Jean figured that while everyone else was worrying over the two sick party- goers, he could ask the question that had been bothering him.

“So Marco...” Jean started quietly, gaining the freckled man's attention. “Do you remember what happened last night? Well... more like why I was laying on you?” Marco gave a laugh, which did very little to quell Jean's nerves.

“I barely remember myself. But... I think I remember you saying something about wanting to count all of my freckles.” Jean released the breath he didn't know that he had been holding. He felt a mix of relief and disappointment. He wasn't sure what that second feeling was about, and thankfully there was something there that could distract him. Reiner was walking in the room with Bertolt hanging on him limply. Marco shot up and went to help. Together, Marco and Reiner guided Bertolt to the couch. Jean moved out of the way to make room. The group sat, having light conversation, for what felt like an hour until Sasha was led toward the living room by Connie. Since Jean, Marco, Eren and Armin were sitting on the floor, there was plenty of room on the couch.

“So... are you all still coming to the party for Armin and Mikasa?” Eren asked. Sasha groaned and flopped over onto Connie.

“Noooo! No more alcohol!” Connie rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, we're going.” Connie said.

“Good. Ok so, I had to get the ok from Erwin. We're having it at the Recon. There's gonna be a lot of people. And, I said it was for Armin and Mikasa, there's actually some other reason too. Might have something to do with the renovations.” Eren said. Jean looked over at Marco.

“You coming?” Jean asked. He wanted to get to know the freckled man a little more. He knew he could be hard to get along with, but Marco seemed completely unfazed by his brash personality. Well... unfazed enough to let him count his freckles.

“Yes definitely,” he said. _There's that damn smile again!_ “All of you seem nice.” Marco continued. Jean almost didn't register his words. He was staring at Marco. Everything about his face was... distracting. But that smile was going to be the death of him! Jean had fooled around with guys before, but for the past three years, he's only been with girls. But then this guy comes along...

“Jean,” Marco asked with concern. “Is your hangover that bad?” Jean blinked himself back into focus.

“Uh... nah, I'm fine.” _Damn it..._ Marco smiled, completely unaware of how much that smile distracted Jean. He looked over his shoulder to see Eren smirking at him. _The fuck?_ Jean figured he could get onto him about that later.

“Well,” Eren started, looking away from Jean. “If you guys need, you can stay here another night... we can figure out the sleeping stuff later.” Jean nearly jumped out of his skin when a black ball of fur suddenly brushed against his arm.

“Peanut! I'm sorry, baby! You're so hungry!” Marco said in a baby voice. The dog hoped up on it's hind legs, jumping up to lick at Marco's face. He scratched at the dog's ear.

“I'm sowwy, girl! Let me get you some food,” he cooed. He stood and walked toward the kitchen. Jean noticed that there were two silver dishes on the floor in front of the counter. Marco went into the kitchen and grabbed a big blue bag that he had to hold with two hands. He bent over to pour the contents of the bag into the dish. Jean had to snap his head forward so that he wouldn't stare at Marco's... lower regions. He glanced over at the couch to see that Eren was yet again giving him that douche bag smirk. Jean grimaced, but his attention was once again brought to Marco. The freckled male had plopped down beside Jean with Peanut hopping into his lap.

“You said there was going to be a lot of people?” Armin asked, stretching a little as he did so. Eren smirked at him.

“What, crowds make you nervous?” he sneered. Armin rolled his eyes but continued.

“Well... that seems a little much for simply greeting two new employees.” Eren scratched the back of his head.

“Well... it's technically for like, a re-opening of the club since the renovations,” he said sheepishly. Armin frowned. “Hey, don't make that face! I heard that there happened to be parties that happened at the same time as the newcomers welcome so I assumed...” he trailed off.

“Yeah that's true... there was a little party when me and Bertolt were hired,” Reiner said. Jean hadn't though much about it, but the same thing happened when he was hired as the DJ. Erwin said there were a ton of people at the club that night to see how well he handled big crowds... but he never gave an explanation for the small dinner party that they went to later that night.

“What ever the case, a party is happening and we need a DD,” Eren said.

“I'll be the designated driver, I don't plan on drinking,” Jean said. After a little bit, Eren had grown bored and got out his Wii and two games.

“I've got Mario Cart and Brawl. We're playing both, the question is 'which one are we playing first'?” The group played together for what felt like a short time, but was actually several hours. Reiner and his group were the first to leave, followed shortly after by Connie and Sasha. Jean looked at his phone to check the time. It was almost nine, and he had errands to run tomorrow. Jean pushed himself off the couch. He had been playing a rather intense game of Brawl with Eren, Armin and Marco.

“You heading out?” Eren asked, setting down his controller. Jean nodded and stretched.

“Yeah, got shit to do tomorrow.”

“Alright, see ya later.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Marco said with a smile.... that damn smile. Jean nodded and headed toward the door. When Jean got to his shoes, he sat down on the floor to put them on. He noticed Peanut had run up towards him. She stopped in front of him with her tail wagging, as if waiting for permission to get closer.

“Peanut, leave him alone,” Marco scolded. She turned her head toward Marco, but almost immediately faced Jean again. Marco clicked his tongue and called her name. This time, the little dog ran straight back toward Marco.

“That's weird... she normally never really follows other people around like that,” Marco said. He looked up and flashed that typical “Marco smile” yet again. “She must really like you.” Jean grunted in response and gave one final good bye.

The night of the party came up quicker than Jean had expected it to. He was waiting for Eren to drive to his apartment with Armin, Marco and Mikasa. Eren had made the plan that they would meet at Jean's apartment. Once the party was over, they would simply stay the night at his apartment. He wasn't sure why he was so adamant about all of them staying at his house, but Jean didn't particularly care. So there he was, waiting for the group to show up. He had the TV on, but he was still able to hear his phone ring.

“Hey Jeager-”

“Jean! Jeeaan! Come down the stairs!!”

“Dude... are you drunk?”

“No. C'mon man, you know I'm not like that. Come on! We're down here!” Eren shouted over the phone. Jean sighed and hung up the phone. He turned off the all the lights in his apartment and then made his way down to the parking lot. Eren had parked his car beside Jean's and they were all standing outside of the car.

“Jeez! There you are! Come on, come on! The party already started!” Eren shouted in a whiny voice.

“This party seriously had you pumped,” Jean muttered, but walked to the car without further complaint. He unlocked the door.

“Marco, you sit in the front,” Eren instructed. Marco looked confused at first. Jean was a little confused too. He had assumed Mikasa would be sitting in the front... since she was a girl and all. Before either of them could say anything, Eren had shoved Marco forward. Jean rolled his eyes. _He's like a kid... what's his deal anyway_. From his glances from the other day, and his actions now, Jean was beginning to think that something was up. But he didn't have time to worry about it. Even if he wasn't as excited as Eren, Jean was looking forward to the party. Jean was mostly happy that he could actually enjoy the Recon since he wasn't working.

Once they reached the club, Jean parked his car in the staff parking lot behind the club. Eren had told them that the party was only open to workers, promoters and friends. Jean thought that would mean that the party would be relatively small. However, upon entering the club, he saw that the club had a lot more people than he had expected. Jean knew very few of the people there. He did notice Erwin, seeing as how the tall blond was making his way toward them.

“I'm glad you all could make it,” Erwin said once he reached the group. “ The drinks are at the bar, just grab a cup.” The group acknowledged the man with a “thank you”, and headed toward the bar. Jean noticed two girls that were already there. The two looked like polar opposites. One of the girls was a short petite blond. The other girl was a tall tan- skinned girl with freckles. Even the clothes they wore looked completely different. The tall girl was wearing ripped white- wash jeans, a white tank top and a flannel shirt hanging loosely over it. The blond was wearing a crop- top shirt that had strawberries printed on it and white high- waisted shorts.

“Christa! Ymir!” Eren called out. The girls turned in their direction, the blond offering a smile and a wave, while the taller woman gazed at the looking almost irritated.

“How's it going?” The blond asked, setting down her cup.

“Pretty good,” Eren said. He looked toward Jean. “I know you two haven't met yet. This is Christa,” Eren said gesturing toward the small blond. The girl smiled at him. _Damn she's cute!_ Jean thought. Eren motioned toward the other woman. “This is Ymir.” The woman looked Jean over. She seemed completely uninterested in Jean, but she nodded her head toward him. Jean returned the gesture.

“This is Jean.”

“Jean? Is that French?” Christa asked. She seemed genuinely interested.

“Yeah,” Jean said simply. He didn't see the need in going any further than that. Before Christa could ask more about Jean, Eren piped up.

“Hey, why didn't you guys come to my party the other day? Reiner never told me why he didn't pick you guys up.”

“We were on a date,” Ymir said, wrapping her arm around Christa's waist. The blond giggled, her cheeks getting pink. When the song changed to a more techno one, Ymir pulled at Christa's arm.

“C'mon! Let's dance!” Ymir pulled the blond toward the dance floor. Christa turned toward Jean as she was getting pulled away.

“It was nice meeting you,” she said before she was pulled into the crowd. Jean let his eyes scan the crowd. He could see Reiner and Bertolt near a corner. Reiner had his hands on Bertolt's hips. He was clearly saying something, but Jean couldn't tell what it was that Reiner was saying. Whatever it was, Bertolt shook his head. Jean could tell that the taller man was already drunk, given how clumsily he shook his head and how red his cheeks were. Bertolt said something and Reiner moved closer. _Seriously. How the fuck aren't they dating?_ Jean decided to take his eyes off the pair. He looked toward the area where the DJ booth normally was.. Instead, there was a table with various finger foods. Jean could see two people sitting at the table. He knew who both of them were. One was Levi. He was sitting cross- legged in his chair. The other person kept trying to lean on Levi, gaining an agitated sneer from the short man. The other person was the loud and eccentric, Hanji Zoe. Both were noticeably drunk, Hanji more so than Levi. Hanji kept making kissy faces at Levi. Jean couldn't tell if the red that colored Levi's cheeks was from the alcohol or whatever it was that Hanji was saying. Either way, Jean looked away. There was something uncomfortable about seeing the normally stoic Levi so drunk and flustered. Jean hadn't realized how much time had passed, but it was enough for the people he had come in with to get drunk. However, he didn't figure this out until he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his back. Jean peered over his shoulder to see Marco smiling up at him.

“Doing ok there, buddy,” Jean asked with a smirk. Marco hummed, but said nothing. Eren clumsily lifted himself up against the counter.

“I wanna dance!” he proclaimed loudly. As if on cue, the song changed. Jean could tell immediately that is was the Beat Geeks. Eren stumbled onto the dance floor, dragging Mikasa and Armin into the crowd with him.

“I wanna go too,” Marco slurred lazily. Jean pushed back a little, bumping his back against Marco's chin.

“Well come on then,” Jean said. He took Marco's hand and lead him to the dance floor. Marco swayed in a dance- like motion to the beginning beat of the song. _Party in the Air, huh? Nice choice._ Jean thought with a smile. He glanced over at Eren and his group. All three were pretty good dancers, well as good as a drunk person could be, He was brought back to Marco, who was closer than before.

“ _Drink up, get down everybody rocking to the beat get low_ ,” Jean knew all the words to this song, seeing as how he had done various remixes with the song. This song was particularly easy to manipulate.

“ _There's a party in the air now. Put yo' drinks in the air_!” The beat began to get faster as the vocalist repeated the word. Marco was dancing against Jean to the beat of the song, his hips moving against him. Not one to be out done, Jean put his hand on Marco's hip and danced along with him. Marco looked back at him with a smirk. _Well... it's not the same as his other smile but..._ Jean felt his stomach flop. He chose to ignore the feeling. They continued dancing, though there seemed to be more people around them than Jean had remembered. Eren and Armin were closer to them, but Mikasa was not with them. Jean noticed her at the bar. Though she was good at it, dancing seemed to be something that she wasn't in to. After a few songs, Marco was leaning completely on Jean.

“Jeeeannn! I wanna drink!” Marco slurred loudly. Eren was already headed back to the bar with Armin close behind him.

“Ok, c'mon,” Jean said, guiding Marco through the crowd and to the bar. Jean looked around the club. There was indeed more people than there had been originally. He recognized a few people from the dinner party that was thrown when he was first working. Jean recognized Hanji's nervous looking fiancee, Moblit. He had his arms up, as if he was trying to get Hanji's attention. The latter was shoving Levi close to Erwin. The taller man had his hands on the shorter's shoulder, as if trying to calm him. Drunk or sober, this sight was pretty normal. Hanji would do or say something to piss Levi off. Moblit would fruitlessly try to stop her, and Erwin would hold Levi back, who looked close to punching the only woman in the group. Everyone knew Levi would never hit a woman, but better safe than sorry, right? Jean continued to scan the crowd, spotting various familiar faces. His attention was brought back to the group by Eren's loud laughter. Jean had no idea what caused said laughter, but Eren was doubled over laughing, Marco had his forehead on the table and was hitting his fist against the table, Armin had his hand over his mouth, trying to hold back his laughter. Mikasa seemed to be laughing at the boys and not with them.

“What's so funny?” Jean asked. Between laughs, Eren managed to say “puns” before bursting into laughter.

“For real? You guys serious?” Jean asked with a raised eyebrow. Mikasa spoke up this time.

“You were drunk too, so you probably didn't notice. Whenever they get drunk, Marco starts making stupid puns. And for some reason these two,” Mikasa emphasized her last two words by motioning toward Eren and Armin, “laugh like it's the funniest thing on the planet.”

“But- but they're so punny!” Marco exclaimed between fits of laughter. Jean grunted but didn't say anything. For some reason, this made Marco laugh even harder.

“Oh well, taters gonna tate,” Marco said, as straight faced as he could manage. Eren and Armin laughed harder while Mikasa simply shook her head. Jean could feel his lips twitch into a smile. _Really? Puns?_ Jean found it a bit endearing. Armin was the first to get his laughter under control.

“We're so drunk,” he said with a giggle.

“What time is it?” Eren asked with a slur. Jean pulled out his phone.

“It's uh- holy shit! It's almost 2!” Jean exclaimed. The party still seemed to be going strong, but he did notice that the crowd had gotten smaller again. He must have missed the people leave while Marco was rattling off puns.

“You guys wanna head out?”

“Mmm... yeah,” Eren slurred.

“Are Reiner and Bertolt gonna be ok?” Jean asked, scanning the club to try and find them.

“Yeah, they're cool. Don't think Reiner's drinkin,” Jean decided to assume Eren knew what he was talking about, and helped got out of his seat. Marco stumbled and Jean was quick to catch him.

“'M good, 'm good!” Marco slurred, even though his arms shook as Marco tried to steady himself against Jean.

“Yeah, yeah.” Jean guided the freckled man out of the door. Once they were outside, Marco tried his best to walk without assistance. Jean and Mikasa guided the group toward his car, and piled everyone in. Jean's apartment was about fifteen minutes away from the club, and that entire time Eren, Armin and Marco decided to sing very loudly and out of tune. Once they reached Jean's apartment, the singing had dulled down to humming and occasional giggle fits. Marco struggled to open the passenger door on his own, so Jean reached over him and opened it for him. He also went to open the doors to the back seat. Eren was the first to clumsily exit the vehicle, followed by Mikasa who had chosen to sit in the middle, and Armin. Marco stumbled around the car, and Jean wrapped his arm around the freckled man's waist to keep him from falling. Once they reached his apartment, he opened the door and guided everyone in.

“I've got a blow up mattress, my bed and this futon,” Jean said, still holding onto Marco.

“We call the blow up bed!” Eren exclaimed, grabbing Armin's hand. “Marco can sleep with you.” Jean raised his eyebrow, but didn't complain. He figured that he was going to sleep on the futon, but he was ok with this arrangement. He guided Marco to his room and set him on the bed.

“You wait here,” he instructed. Once he heard the mumbled “mmm- kay”, he went to his closet to get the blow up mattress. He headed back to the living room, with various blankets and pillows in tow. He filled the mattress with air, and distributed out the blankets to Mikasa, Eren and Armin. Once he got back to his room, Jean was completely tired. Marco had already gotten under the covers and was fast asleep. Jean crawled in beside him. He didn't have time to question why Eren had insisted that Marco sleep in his bed. The second his head hit the pillow, Jean succumbed to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was my jeanmarco too... blatant. I'm trying to make it subtle.   
> One day, I will get the hang of formatting! They've been different, like, every chapter OTL


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm such garbage! I have no idea why it took me so long to post this chapter. I'm so sorry for the wait! (Well, if you were waiting, that is) Hopefully I'll get better at more consistent updates.

 Jean rolled over in his bed and felt his lips twitch up into a smile. Marco was lying against the wall as if he had tried to take up as little space as possible on the bed. _He's kinda cute..._ Jean thought. He couldn't even be bothered by the fact that he's smiling at a man who he had only recently met and was lying in his bed. Both of them were fully clothed , so that was one less thing to mull over. Jean rolled over to look at the time on his cell phone. He plucked up the device that was lying on his nightstand and clicked the home button to illuminate the screen. Jean felt his smile immediately fall into a frown. His phone read that it was only six in the morning. With the grimace still planted on his face, Jean laid flat on his back to stare up at the ceiling. He knew it wouldn't be long until he was asleep again. Jean was right. It wasn't until five hours later that he awoke again. He had managed to end up on his side and facing the wall. However, unlike the last time he had woken up, there wasn't a curled up Marco pressed against the wall. Jean sat up and stretched until he heard that ever so familiar pop in his back. _I guess I should go check on the others._ Jean thought groggily. Though if Marco was already up, then it was very likely that he was already checking up on his drunk roommates... and Mikasa. Jean rubbed his eyes as he made his way out of his room and into the living room. Sure enough, everyone was in the living room, waiting for Jean to wake up.

 

“How is that the one person who didn't drink, looks like he's having the worst hangover?” Eren asked, reclining on the futon. Everyone had managed to pile onto the futon, leaving very little room for Jean to sit. Marco noticed and immediately popped out of his seat.

 

“I was waiting til you were up to make breakfast,” Marco said. Jean looked at Marco and cocked his head to the side. Marco mimicked the action, clearly confused by the reaction.

 

“You're cooking? Here?” Jean asked. Marco's eyebrow lifted in slight confusion. And then realization hit him full force, his face flaring red.

 

“I- I mean, if that's ok with you, that is,” Marco quickly added. Jean couldn't suppress his smile.

 

“It's fine. I'll help you but,” Jean stopped and checked his phone for the time. “Let's make lunch.” He walked over to the kitchen and began to set out some pans and skillets.

 

“Hope you're fine with grilled cheese and tomato soup, cause that's what I'm making,” Jean said. Marco slid past Jean and stood in front of the stove.

 

“What do you want me to do?” Marco asked. Jean grabbed a loaf of bread from the cabinet that was above the stove. He set it on the counter and then turned to Marco.

 

“You can work on the soup. My cans are in the cabinet by the fridge. My spices and stuff are there as well. You can grab what you need,” Jean said. “Oh, and can you get some cheese from the fridge? They're on the side.” Marco nodded and got all the supplies. The two worked in the kitchen, chatting a little as the food cooked. Jean reached over Marco, who was stirring the soup after adding spices that he didn't even know he had, to get dishes. Jean pulled a plate from the cabinet so that he could put the grilled cheese sandwiches onto it. After few more minutes, Jean had made enough sandwiches for the group and Marco had stopped stirring the pot.

 

“Get your food,” Jean said. He made his own plate and headed for the living room. Marco followed suite and mad room for the others to get their food. Jean sat on the end of the futon. He glanced over and saw Marco trying to decide if he was going to sit on the floor or not. Jean rolled his eyes. _Such a damn Saint_ he thought.

 

“C'mere,” Jean said, patting the spot nearest to him. Marco smile and sat down. Soon enough, everyone was in the living room.

 

“So, that party was awesome right,” Eren said, a smile spread across his face. There was a hum of agreement amongst the group.

 

“It's not like you planned any of it, though,” Jean said with a smirk.

 

“Shove it!” There was a shared laugh before they started to chit chat. Yet again, Jean found himself engrossed in a conversation with Marco. The man was an animated talker. His hands moved about as he talked about anything and everything. And yet, he wasn't annoyed. He was genuinely interested. The only thing that was starting to annoy Jean, was seeing Eren smirking at him from the corner of his eye. Jean found himself staring at Eren, forgetting that Marco was still talking. Eren rolled his eyes and pushed himself up.

 

“Yo, Jean. I need your help in the kitchen,” he said. Jean huffed and muttered to Marco that he would be right back.

 

“What is it, Eren,” Jean started once the pair made it into the kitchen. “Can't get a bowl of soup by yourself?”

 

“You like him,” Eren said.

 

“What?”

 

“Marco! You like Marco,” Eren said. Jean let out a small laugh, but he stopped himself from going further when he noticed that Eren wasn't smiling.

 

“Can I be real with you?” Eren asked.

 

“Uh... sure.”

 

You're an asshole.”

 

“Oh, gee. Thanks. Very kind.”

 

“No, no seriously, Jean. You're not always the nicest person and it takes you a while to befriend people. You wanna know why I'm saying this?” There was a pause. Jean pursed his lips together, not being the biggest fan of being told about himself. He sighed and muttered a “fine”.

 

“You haven't done any of the usual assholey stuff you usually do, not to Marco. You smile all the time!” Jean rolled his eyes at that.

 

“He's a nice guy. And who cares if I smile at him anyway? What's the big deal?” Jean huffed. He paused to listen to the living room. He could hear Marco and Armin talking. He assumed that Mikasa was simply listening to their conversation. He turned back to Eren who's eyebrow was hitched up in an incredulous look. “What?”

 

“Jean, is it such a bad thing to like Marco?”

 

“Kinda, I just met the guy.”

 

“...Get to know him.” Jean huffed.

 

“Why do you care so much?” Jean asked. Eren smirked. It was light hearted, and Jean felt the tension in his shoulder fade.

 

“Well.... I think.... that you'd be cute together,” he said. Jean snorted at that, having to physically use his hand to stifle the laughter.

 

“Seriously, dude? What are you, the matchmaker?” Jean said between laughs.

 

“Yes,” Eren said, puffing his chest out. “As a matter of fact I am.” Jean smirked and turned to the food.

 

“I might... hang out with him. You know, to get to know him and all. I could use a few extra friends,” Jean said. Eren smiled and turned back toward the living room. Jean halted by the soup. _For real though, Jean..._ he thought to himself. _Do you really like this kid?_

 

Jean ran his fingers through his hair. He was waiting outside of the Sania University apartment complex, waiting in his car in the loading zone of the apartment complex. Jean let out a huff. _How the fuck did I let Jeager get me into this?_ Jean asked himself.

 

“ _Wow Jean, just two days with the guy and you're head over heels,” Eren said with a smirk._

 

“ _Hey shove it,” Jean said. “And I'm not 'head over heels'. I just kinds like the guy, jeez.” Eren smiled. They were sitting in the break room of Recon. It was afternoon and a Monday at that. So naturally, the place was pretty much empty. Eren took a sip of his coffee, immediately jerking back when the drink burned his tongue._

 

“ _Ah, damn,” he hissed. Jean rolled his eyes and looked down at his phone. It was a text from Marco. Over the days after the big party, he and Marco had exchanged numbers. He had even spent quite a bit of time with the freckled male. Just in the past week, they had gone to the movie theater that was inside the student facility center on campus. Jean smiled. The majority of the message was cut off since he had yet to unlock his phone, but he could see the word “Yo!”. He chuckled a little to himself._

 

“ _You're. In. Love,” Eren said in a hushed staccato tone right in Jean's ear. Jean lurched back, shocked by the sudden intrusion of personal space._

 

“ _The fuck!” Eren laughed loudly. Jean grimaced and shoved his phone in his pocket without reading the text._

 

“ _C'mon, you said you had something serious to say to me,” Jean said._

 

“ _Yeah, you guys need to hook up.”_

 

“ _Excuse me?”_

 

“ _Ok, hang on. That came out wrong,” Eren said waving his hand. “I mean, just... go out already! Do you know how annoying it is to see people who belong together not doing shit about?” Eren asked. Jean couldn't hide the smirk on his face. Eren was getting legitimately frustrated._

 

“ _Eren-”_

 

“ _No, no no! You don't get it! It's annoying enough seeing Reiner and Bertolt, with their hands all over each other and shit! And I'm just like 'so you gonna fuck or what'. And they hit with that 'We're just friends shit', and I'm over it! And-”_

 

“ _Alright, alright, I get it! But, I want to get to know him more... and have him get to know me,” Jean said, his hands up in defense. Eren huffed and leaned back in his chair._

 

“ _Take him on a fake date.”_

 

“ _Huh?”_

 

“ _A fake date,” he repeated. “Just, treat him like you would someone who you're dating, but when you head home, no sex,” Eren said. Jean felt his eyebrow quirk up._

 

“ _That makes no sense, Jeager.”_

 

“ _Oh come on! Just give it a shot. Besides, it's not a one time deal. Take him on a few fake dates, and when you think you're ready, take him on a real one.”_

 

So here Jean was, leaned against his seat in an aggravated huff.

 

“He's late,” Jean muttered. He picked up his phone that was laying in the passenger seat. He flipped though his contacts until he found Marco's name. It rung three times, before Jean heard Marco's voice. He was in a huff, and Jean could hear the sound of something hitting the ground.

 

“I'm so sorry Jean! I'm almost ready. Peanut was acting funny and she just threw up and-”

 

“Hey, hey, it's fine. I can just come up.”

 

“You don't mind? We can order pizza or something. Seriously, I'm so sorry! I'll pay and everything.”

 

“It's fine, I don't mind,” Jean said as he got out of his car. He started to hang up the phone when he heard Marco's voice on the other end.

 

“Dammit! Peanut, why today?” he grumbled. Jean chuckled.

 

“You good?”

 

“Huh? Oh uhm, yeah. Oh, the door is unlocked, you can just come in,” Marco said. Jean trudged up the stairs toward Marco's home. He checked the sign on the door to make sure that it was the correct number before opening the door.

 

“Sup,” Jean said as he opened the door. Marco was on the couch. Peanut was laying on her back in Marco's lap. He was rubbing her stomach when Jean started to take off his shoes. Marco looked up and smiled.

 

“Hey, thank you for coming up. I'm really sorry.”

 

“Stop apologizing. Who else is here?”

 

“Oh, no one. Eren, Armin and Mikasa are at her apartment,” Marco said. Jean nodded and sat near Marco. When he got a good look at him, he saw that Marco had a dark polo and black khakis.

 

“Work clothes?” Jean asked. Marco looked down, as if he had forgotten.

 

“Oh, uhm, yeah. Jeez, I was so not ready for dinner,” Marco said with a sigh. “I'm really so-” Marco stopped when he saw the look on Jean's face, lips turned downward and an eyebrow raised up. Marco let out a little laugh before he continued to rub Peanut's stomach. Jean looked down at the small dog. He couldn't read animals' faces, so he really had no idea how she was feeling. But gauging on the fact that she was actually sitting still, he assumed that she wasn't feeling too hot.

 

“So, what's wrong with her?” Jean asked. He gently placed ran his finger against Peanut's ear.

 

“She probably got into some trash when I took her out for a walk. I wasn’t paying attention.” Jean saw that Marco's lips were pursed together in a thin line.

 

“Hey, I'm sure she'll be fine,” Jean said. “So how about that pizza?” Jean was already pulling his phone out of his pocket. “You cool with pepperoni?” Marco nodded.

 

“I've got cash in my room, just tell me how much it is.”

 

“Hey, I was taking you out to dinner, remember? I'm still paying.”

 

“Jean,” Marco whined. Jean laughed and proceeded to order the pizza. Once he placed the order and gave the address (after having to ask Marco to make sure that he did it right) Jean sat down on the couch. Marco had set Peanut's dog bed in the living room near the TV. The small dog was now laying on the bed, fast asleep. Jean and Marco were both sitting on the couch. They were near each other, but not close enough for either of them to have any physical contact. Jean could feel the awkwardness in the air, thick and quite annoying. For some reason, it always felt uncomfortable during thr first moments of their time together. Jean couldn't figure out why. Of course, it melted away once they got a conversation going, but that was always the hard part. Jean sighed. This made Marco look over.

 

“Sorry, this is pretty boring, huh?” he said. Jean shook his head.

 

“Nah, I'm just kinda hungry.”

 

“Yeah, for real, I'm sorry about this. I got off work late, and then Peanut just-”

 

“Seriously, it's fine. Why are you so stressed about this anyway? It was just dinner.” Jean could have sworn he saw something akin to disappointment in Marco's eyes.

 

“Well, it's just... Eren said you don't normally do this type of stuff for people. I didn't want to make you think that I didn't care,” Marco said. His voice had gotten quiet.

 

“Well, for one, Eren's a dumbass. Don't take his word for anything,” Jean said. Marco let out a little laugh as he brought his legs up onto the couch. “And two, it's really fine. I like hanging out with you. So it doesn't really matter where we are,” Jean said. _Wow, that was fucking cheesy._ He inwardly chastised himself. But hecouldn't hide his smile when he saw the look on Marco's face. He was blushing, but not a lot. It was actually barely noticeable. He had a small embarrassed smile on his face too.

 

“Well, that's good then,” Marco said. Jean didn't respond, but instead kept staring at Marco. The dark haired male had occupied himself by flipping through the channels on TV. Jean pursed his lips together. _Eren said to take him on a few fake dates... but do I even need to wait?_ Jean looked over Marco, who was either completely unaware of Jean's staring, or was working his ass off to avoid sharing eye contact.

 

“So, Marco,” Jean started. Marco looked over at him.

 

“Yeah?” Jean paused. _I've got this._

 

“Well, Marco... I actually have-” Jean was cut off by the sound of someone knocking at the door. Marco gave a small laugh, an extremely nervous sounding laugh.

 

“Wow, they're never here this quick,” he said standing. “I'll go grab some money for tip.” Jean muttered a quiet “ok”.

 

“Not too fond of tipping a cock- blocker...”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, it's been awhile. I finally graduated from college! Now I can try, and I do mean try, to work on having more frequent updates. If you're reading this, thanks for sticking with me! And sorry it's so short. I'll try to make the next chapter longer.

The two sat quietly as they ate their pizza. Jean's confidence in simply asking Marco out had completely vanished after being interrupted by the pizza guy. He was now trying to work up his nerve again. Marco was fiddling with the crust of his pizza, only having eaten two. Jean set his own slice down and turned to face the freckled male.

“What's wrong, Freckles?” Jean asked. Marco smirked, giving a small chuckle at the name. He waited as Marco continued to fiddle with the pizza crust.

“Jean, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah?”

“And,” Marco paused and pursed his lips together. He seemed unwilling to finish his sentence. Jean sighed and moved closer to Marco.

“C'mon, Marco. If you've got something on your mind, you can always talk to me,” Jean said. Marco smiled and set down the crust.

“You won't laugh?

“No,” Jean said, firmly. Marco sighed and leaned back against the arm rest of the couch/

“Okay, here goes nothing... I like you, I think. Well, no, a lot. Wait,” Marco stopped himself. His cheeks were considerably red as he shifted in his seat. Jean hadn't made a face, but inside he was probably just as flustered as Marco. He was surprised by how bold Marco was, but was also slightly embarrassed for not being the one to speak up first. He brought his attention back to Marco when the other male gave a loud huff.

“I like you. I don't know why I do, since we haven't been around each other for that long. But... when you said you wanted to hang out, that made me happy and, don't look at me like that! This is embarrassing enough!” Jean smirked and put his hands up. Marco sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

“When you asked me to dinner, I was really happy. So... I guess I was just a little upset that I feel like I messed it up and...” Marco stopped talking and rubbed the back of his neck. Jean smiled and before he could stop himself, he started to laugh. Marco looked up at him, confusion plastered on his face.

“Jean... that's fucked up,” Marco said. He had a deep frown and was starting to get up from the couch. Jean grabbed his wrist.

“No, no, no! Marco, please wait a second,” he said. Marco huffed and sat down, but didn't look directly at Jean.

“I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing at myself,” Jean said. Marco peeked over at Jean, but stayed quiet.

“I've been trying to figure out how to ask you... and I've been confused too. I was just surprised that’s all,” Jean said. He could still see the light red that colored Marco's cheeks. Jean smiled and put his hand on Marco's. “I'm trying to say, 'I like you too,'” Jean said. Marco smiled and shifted so that he could face Jean again. Jean was expecting something, maybe not a tongue wrestling match, but something. Maybe they would cuddle on the couch, share a laugh, something; anything other than the uncomfortable silence that they were stuck with.

“Now what?” Marco asked, breaking the silence. Jean sat quietly for a moment or so.

“A real date.”

“Huh?”

“That's it,” Jean said. “I can take you on a real date.”

“Now? It's like, ten right now,” Marco said. Even though there was doubt in his voice, he was still smiling. Jean crossed his legs on the couch.

“Ok, not tonight, but soon. And then we can make it official,” Jean said. Marco smiled.

“I would like that

***

“Holy shit, for real?” Eren said, more like shouted. Jean took a swig from his soda and tried to hide the smirk on his lips. They were sitting in the break room on another slow weekday. Erwin would typically have a playlist of songs going whenever it was too slow. Jean was still amazed that he got paid on days like that.

“Yup, so we're going on a real date tomorrow,” Jean said. Eren leaned back with a smile. 

“Told you I was a good matchmaker,” Eren said. Jean rolled his eyes and fiddled with his can. He could feel his eyebrows furrow as he tried to keep his frown at bay. He knew it was to no avail when he heard Eren’s loud groan.

“What is it now?”

“It’s just… it was so easy…” Eren straightened up in his seat and leaned in toward Jean.

“You calling Marco easy?” he asked with a sneer.

“What? No, you moron!” Jean exclaimed. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s nothing like that it’s just… nothing like this ever comes easy for me.” Eren leaned back.

“I thought you were the smooth operator.” Jean snorted in response.

“Yeah, I can pull girls and even guys pretty easy from a club, but… I don’t know. I like this guy.” Jean’s voice was exasperated. Eren quirked a brow. “I’m just worried that since this was easy, the rest will be hell.” Eren shrugged.

“You’re seriously over thinking it. Take it one day at a time and then judge the results,” Eren said, his head tilted slightly to the side.

“You say that like it’s easy,” Jean said, reclining in his chair. Eren shrugged and leaned back as well.

“Because it is,” he said. Jean tilted his head back. He tended to be his own worst enemy when it came to matters like this. He was a serial monogamist. He would get in relationships and stay in them, no matter how messy it was. Eren got up from his chair, getting Jean’s attention.

“I gotta get back,” Eren said. “Some of us have work to do.” Jean rolled his eyes. Eren walked to the door and stopped. He turned around to face Jean.

“Listen, your date will be fine! Don’t stress and just have a good time,” Eren said. 

“Yeah, whatever,” Jean said. Eren smiled and opened the door.

“Hey, Jeager,” Jean said quickly, turning to the brunette. Eren stood at the door, a puzzled look on his face.

“Thanks.”


	7. Chapter 7

Jean took several deep breathes. He sat in his car outside of Marco’s apartment. Tonight was going to be their first official date. Jean tried to wear casual clothes that didn’t scream “I’m trying really hard to impress you, but I don’t want you to know it.” In his eyes, he failed miserably. He was in dark jeans, a plain shirt, a black faux leather jacket and his converse. He still looked like a DJ. Thankfully they weren’t going anywhere fancy, just to a restaurant near the Sania campus. It was a little Italian restaurant called Osar’s. He’d been there once to pick up a drunk Eren, but he’d never eaten there before. Marco said it was rather casual, so Jean didn’t mind. He eyed the clock and drummed his finger against the wheel. 6:57… just a few more minutes. He had agreed to pick Marco up at seven that night. He told Marco, jokingly of course, that he’d probably be fashionably late. In reality, his nerves had him so riled up that he arrived ten minutes early. He looked at what he knew was Marco’s window. He paid no attention to his surroundings. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest at the sound of pounding on his window. He looked over, wide-eyed, to see none other than Eren, his hands and face pressed against his window. Jean pressed a button to roll the window down.

“The fuck is your problem, man?” Jean asked, his voice coming out in a huff. Eren grinned and leaned against the car.

“You going on a date?” Eren asked.

“You already know I am,” Jean said. He leaned back in the seat, the tension that had settled in his lower back slowly starting to numb away. “Besides, this was your idea.” Eren grinned even wider and stood up straight.

“Don’t stress,” Eren said. Before Jean could respond, Eren took off toward the stairs. He waved at Jean before slipping into his apartment. Jean looked down at the clock again. It was finally seven. When he looked back up at the window, he could see the blinds shutting, as if someone had just been peeking out. He cocked his head to the side. Within a minute or so, the door opened and Marco stepped out. He looked down at Jean’s car and smiled. He turned to close the door but stopped. It looked like he was talking to someone, most likely Eren. Jean felt his eyebrow quirk up when Marco quickly shut the door, his face red. Jean leaned over and propped the door open for Marco. The freckled male sat down in the car and smiled, his cheeks still red.

“Hey,” he said. Jean grinned.

“Hey to you too,” Jean said. He eyed Marco and started the car. “You look nice.” Marco was dark jeans that could have passed for slacks. He had on a dark gray button down shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. Marco smiled.

“Thanks, you too.”

“So, what was that about up there?” Jean asked, putting the car in reverse and pulling out of the parking lot.

“Ah, nothing much, Eren was just being… Eren,” Marco said with a little laugh. Jean grinned knowing about that himself. Marco told Jean how to get to the restaurant. The drive took all of ten minutes. When they pulled up to the restaurant, Jean took a moment to take it all in. The place was definitely casual. There were three booths along the walls and what looked like two in the middle. The area was relatively small. He looked at the sign that said it was an Italian restaurant. He glanced over to see Marco was staring at him, expectantly.

“You ready?” Marco asked. Jean could hear the twinge of nervousness in his voice. He nodded and opened his door. They were seated in the booth that was just under the TV. Jean looked through the menu. Some of the words were in Italian, but it was still easy to pin point what he would like. He set the menu down and focused on Marco.

“So, how’s school going?” Jean asked.

“Pretty well, I’m only having trouble in one class,” he said.

“Which one?”

“Ironically enough, Italian,” Marco said. Jean cocked his head to the side. “Oh, I guess I never told you, I’m mixed with Sicilian.” Jean leaned in.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. My mom is Sicilian and white and my dad is Sicilian and Columbian,” he said. Jean smiled. That was definitely an interesting fact. They chatted while they waited for their food. Marco talked about his home; how he was fluent in Spanish, how his younger brother was just starting kindergarten and much more. Jean talked about his family’s French background and about his sisters. They both thanked the waitress when she set their meals down.

“So your sister just graduated from Harvard?” Marco asked, picking up his fork to stir his pasta. Jean nodded and followed suit.

“Yeah, and it’s great and all, but I think my parents expected the same from me,” Jean said. Marco nodded.

“What did you did you do before you became a DJ?” Marco asked. 

“I was gonna do Prelaw, I woulda majored in polysci,” Jean said. He took a bite of his food. “It was interesting but not what I wanted to do.” Marco smiled.

“It must be nice…” he said dreamily. Jean looked at him. Marco seemed to not realize Jean’s perplexed stare until after a few seconds. “Oh! I mean… It must be nice to be sure… to know yourself so well.” Jean smirked and twirled his fork in the pasta.

“What? Nothing to amazing about knowing what you want.”

“I don’t know… I wish I could get through a day without second guessing myself,” Marco said quietly. He fidgeted in his seat. “You’d make for a great leader, Jean.” Marco finished. He sat still and scooped up pasta with his fork. Jean smiled and mumbled a “thanks”. The rest of the meal was pleasant. They joked, laughed; simply enjoyed each others’ presence. When the bill came, Jean had his wallet out and ready. Marco was adamant about at least paying the tip.

The pair sat in Jean’s car in front of Marco’s apartment. Marco was sitting with his head tilted back against the head rest of the seat. Jean had his body craned closer to Marco, leaning over the arm rest.

“Tonight was nice,” Marco said. Jean nodded.

“You want me to walk you to the door?” Jean asked. Marco looked over at him with a smile. “Can’t have you getting mugged on my watch. Eren’ll kill me.” The two laughed before getting out of the car. They walked side by side, their shoulders pressed against each other as they made their way to the stairs. Jean took note of the slight height difference with Marco having a few inches on him. They stopped in front of the door, facing each other.

“Well… good night,” Marco said. His voice was hushed. His cheeks were lightly colored with red. Jean smirked and hooked his finger under Marco’s collar.

“Good night,” Jean said. His voice was husky, deeper and more even than it had ever sounded to him. He smiled as he tugged Marco closer until their lips were touching. At first there was no movement, until Marco rested his hand on Jean’s hip. Jean’s grip on Marco’s collar tightened as he hooked two fingers around, grazing Marco’s warm skin. He pulled Marco in and kept him there as the kiss deepend. Neither male bothered to pay attention to their surroundings. They didn’t notice the door clicking as someone from the inside unlocked the door. They didn’t hear the muffled, but still audible “You don’t even live here, don’t nag me about groceries!”. But they did hear the gasp. Both males released their hold on one another to lock eyes with a pair of wide, teal eyes. Marco was red as he clasped his hand over his mouth and looked away. Jean grimaced at the wide “kid on Christmas morning grin” that appeared on the intruder’s face.

“Hell fucking yes!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My chapters are so short :(


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... it's been three years since I first uploaded this fanfic. I think I may re- write the first chapters, but I really don't know. If anyone is reading this that used to follow this, I'm so sorry for the wait!! I technically have the outline for it completely done (though it's a year old now ^^), I just have to write the chapters.

Jean glared down at the brunette intruder. Granted, it was the brunette’s home and they were standing in front of his door. That didn’t keep Jean’s glare at bay. He glanced over at a red- faced Marco. He bit back a smile. It looked like the poor guy was short- circuiting. Eren leaned back into his home.

 

 

“Mikasa! You owe me ten dollars,” he called. Jean could hear a muffled “nice” and shook his head.

 

 

“Seriously, Jaeger?” he said with a quirked eyebrow. Eren smirked.

 

 

“ Be pissy later,” he said. “So! Tell me everything. Did you hold hands? Was that the first kiss? How was dinner? You’re not gonna try and do the hanky- panky in here are you? What-” Jean held his hand up to silence him. Marco looked like he was going to faint.

 

 

“I’m… going to bed,” he stammered out. He gave Jean a quick hug. “Good night,” he said as he rushed past Eren. Jean looked down at Eren.

 

 

“Well, while it’s none of your business,” he started. He couldn’t suppress his giddy smile any longer. “It was great.” Eren smirked as he stood up straight. He leaned against the doorframe with a wide smile.

 

 

“You catching feelings?” Eren asked. Jean rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. He couldn’t really put into words how he felt. Dating wasn’t something new to him. He could recall plenty of young college students waltzing up to his booth with a sultry smile and a drink for the both of them. He tried to imagine Marco in that same position in front of his booth. He couldn’t see the freckled male the same as the others. The sultry smile was replaced with a warm genuine smile when he thought of Marco. He could feel his heart do flips and he was sure that it showed. Eren smiled. Jean noticed that it wasn’t an obnoxious smile. It was warm.

 

 

“That’s great,” he said. He pat Jean’s hand. “It really is.”

 

 

“Eren! The groceries,” Mikasa called from in the house.

 

“Fuck, Mikasa, ‘m going!” he yelled back. He walked out and closed the door behind him. They both walked down the stairs. Jean stopped at his door as Eren walked to his.

 

“Hey,” Jean called out. Eren turned on his heel to face him. Jean smiled warmly as he opened his door. “Thanks, man.” Eren gave him a thumbs up as he continued the short walk to his car. Jean climbed into his car and drove home. He stared wide eyed at the road for the entire drive. He felt rigidness in his body up until he closed the door to his home. After a few moments, he pumped his fists into the air. He jumped, he danced; he did whatever came to his body. He couldn’t contain his smile or his heartbeat. He felt warm, he felt excited, and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to sleep that night.

 

***

 

Jean took his place in the open area where staff meetings were held. It was just barely noon, which Erwin deemed to be the best time to hold these meetings. Jean glanced around the room. Eren was leaning behind the bar table, with Mikasa and Armin nearby in the chairs by the bar. Jean scans the crowd and sees all familiar faces, but one is missing. He looks toward Reiner to see that his brow is furrowed. He looks on either side of the brawny man and realizes that Bertolt isn’t there. Jean doesn’t have much time to mull over it when Erwin starts to speak.

 

“So as I’m sure you know, with the end of August, comes the end of our big summer parties. As such, Friday will be our last big blow out until Halloween.” Erwin stopped and pressed his forefinger to his bottom lip. “Realistically, that isn’t that far away… anyway, I want everyone here and prepared for a packed house. We’ll decorate for a luau theme steadily through the week. Since it’s Sunday, we’ll be able to knock a lot of it out today.” He walked over to a stack of sealed cardboard boxes. “Everything we need for today will be in here. We’ll start in a little bit.” With that, Erwin walked over to Levi. Jean got up to go to the break room. He noticed Eren trailing close behind him. Once he got to the break room, he dug through his pockets to find some change for the vending machine. Eren leaned against the one with snacks, while Jean stood in front of the one with drinks.

 

“So,” Jean started. Eren looked over at him.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You hear from Bertolt lately,” he asked. He pushed in the bill. He grit his teeth in agitation as the bill crumpled up instead of feed into the machine.

 

“You know, I haven’t seen him in a bit… he hasn’t visited since my last party and Reiner has been hella stressed,” Eren said. He tilted his head at Jean, an inquisitive look on his face. “Why?”

 

“Nothing really, it’s unusual to not see him glued to Reiner’s hip.” Eren grinned at the comment. He suddenly propped himself upright.

 

“Oh! Speaking of which, I finally know for sure that Levi and Erwin are dating.” Jean rolled his eyes.

 

“You’re such a gossip,” he said as the bill finally went into the machine. He pressed the button for his choice and glanced over at Eren. “So, just for conversation’s sake, how’d you find that out?” Eren smirked as he crossed his arms.

 

“Curious aren’t we?”

 

“Spit it out.”

 

“Ok, ok. So I happened to get here pretty early. I thought I heard Levi say something, so I though he maybe needed help getting the meeting started with Erwin. Well, when I got to where I heard his voice I heard… other things.” Eren’s face fell slightly. Jean snorted.

 

“So you heard them…”

 

“… Partaking in coitus,” Eren finished. Jean let out a loud laugh.

 

“Who even uses that word?”

 

“Me, bitch-“Eren cut himself off as the door swung open and Connie walked in. He held his phone to his ear.

 

 

“Yes… yes babe, I’ll be home as soon as I’m done- yeah… yes, honey,” he said. Jean and Eren looked at each other with wide grins. Eren pointed at Connie then stuck his tongue out. Jean laughed. Connie glanced over at them, his cheeks noticeably red.

 

“Babe, really? Uh… yeah, love you tons, I already said it!” Jean and Eren exchange a look and began to make gagging sounds. Connie replaced his grip on the phone with his nondominant hand as he stuck up his middle finger with the other. He mutters out a final goodbye before ending the call and shoving the phone in his pocket. Eren and Jean walked over to the table while Connie put the rest of his belongings into his cabinet.

 

“So,” Jean started. He waited while Connie walked to the table to sit down as well. “You guys are really lovey dovey.” Connie rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

 

“And, what? I’m sure you’d be the same with Marco if you had any balls,” he said. Eren snorted before laughing loudly. He smacked Jean’s shoulder. Jean shook his hand away.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, the blush stark against his face.

 

Jean wandered around the aisles of the pet store. He peeked around corners and down the aisles. He could see familiar blue shirts, but not on the person that he was looking for. He tried to keep his head down so that the associates didn’t ask him if he needed any help. He looked when h heard a voice on the aisle with the hamsters. He walked over and stopped at the end of the aisle to listen to the smooth voice. He kept his eyes on the freckled man as he kneeled down in front of a small child. The young boy had a small box in his hands. Jean felt a flutter in his stomach as Marco smiled at the boy. The freckled male stood up straight and began t talk to the boy’s mother. He had several papers with him that he handed to the mother. The mother and son walked away. Marco was about to follow when he noticed Jean.

 

“Just head to the front register and you’ll be able to take your new friend home,” he said. Jean noticed the way Marco’s smile fell briefly before he stopped in front of him.

 

“You ok?” Jean asked. Marco rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“I’m ok, but I’m worried about Bertolt,” he said. Jean tilted his head to the side in confusion. Marco motioned for Jean to follow him. They walked down the aisle and down to where the pet bowls were. Marco leaned against the stand.

 

“So what’s up?” Jean asked.

 

“I got a text from Eren. Well, I got a few texts,” he said. He pulled out his phone and typed in his password and clicked his messages. Jean leaned in to look at the messages.

 

 **Eren:** Hey u seen Bert?

 **Marco:** No, at work.

 **Marco:** Everything ok?

 **Eren:** Reiner’s lookin for him. I’ll text when he texts back.

 **Marco:** Ok.

 

Jean felt his brow furrow as he looked at the messages.

 

“He has been M. I. A.,” Jean muttered. Marco locked his phone and slid it back into his pocket.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, he wasn’t at the last meeting,” Jean said. Marco hummed as he ran his finger against his bottom lip in thought. Jean narrowed his eyes with a smile. He slipped his hand into Marco’s. The freckled male looked over at him. Jean squeezed his hand with a small smile.

 

“Don’t stress,” Jean said. “He’s got Reiner and he’ll tell us if he needs anything.” Marco nodded. He looked up at Jean with a small smile.

 

“Well, do you want to come over tonight?” he asked.

 

“Moving a little fast, huh?” Jean asked with a sly smirk. Marco elbowed him in the stomach.

 

“Don’t be gross. We were going to marathon Disney movies,” he said.

 

“Ghibli included?”

 

“Of course.” Marco said with a smirk. “You down?”

 

“But of course,” Jean said.

 

***

 

Jean had arm wrapped around Marco’s waist. Armin was curled up in on the couch as he leaned on Eren. The final song of the movie they had on died off and the credits began to roll.

 

“Ghibli,” Jean said. Eren sat up and grabbed the remote.

 

“There’s not any on Netflix,” Eren said. He pressed the back button and began to scroll through the options. He stopped on one and perked up. “How about’ Road to El Dorado?”

 

“That’s not Disney,” Armin said simply. Marco snickered as the Jean and Eren began to bicker back and forth. Everyone halted at the sound of banging on the door. Peanut began to bark and ran out from the other room. The small dog stopped by the foot of the couch and barked at the door. Eren looked at the door and set the remote back to here he had first picked it up. He quickly got up and peeked through the peephole. He opened the door and took a step back.

 

“You guys ok?” he asked. Reiner and Bertolt stepped into view. Marco sat up and Jean followed suit. Reiner seemed practically frantic as he tugged off his shoes while the door closed behind him. Bertolt, on the other hand was sluggish in all of his movements. Reiner grabbed his hand.

 

“What’s wrong?” Marco asked. Bertolt sighed. Eren guided the both of them to the couch. He shut off the TV and sat down. All four of them faced Reiner and Bertolt. No one made a move for a few moments. Marco was the first to lean forward. He leaned forward and then carefully placed his hand on Bertolt’s.

 

“Are you ok?” he asked. Bertolt kept his eyes focused on Marco’s hand. Reiner sat close to him and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

 

“No,” he finally responded in a broken voice. Marco gripped his hand. Jean looked over Bertolt. While the man wasn’t particularly talkative, he had never seen him so upset. He was clearly holding back tears. Reiner tightened his grip, pulling him into a hug, murmuring to him lowly.

 

“Talk to us,” Eren said. The brunette’s face was completely consumed with worry. All of them were. The room hung with a thick uncomfortable silence, save for the occasional whines from Peanut. Bertolt pursed his lips together before finally looking up.

 

“I… I came out to my family the other day,” he said. He took a deep breath and ran his hand that wasn’t being held by Marco through his hair. He swallowed heavily before continuing. “They… my family kicked me out. And all my funding for college.” Once he was finished they were all practically huddled around him. Marco had him in a tight hug. Eren mimicked the action that Reiner had done on the other side of Bertolt. Armin and even Jean had his hands in their own. Jean could feel the tremble in his hands from the taller man. They stayed like that, huddled together while Bertolt tried to keep his sobs inaudible. Jean grimaced at the heaviness in his heart.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just as a warning, their is mention of homophobia. I don't know how everyone feels about it and how that may trigger people, so I just wanted to be transparent. Hope you enjoy.

Jean pursed his lips together. He had only known Bertolt for a little under three years, but it didn’t stop the twists he felt at the pit of his stomach as he looked at him hold back tears. The taller male was still, not responding to the murmurings of support from the people around him. Jean could feel the little tremors in his hand as he squeezed Bertolt’s. He felt his mind going back to his own parents. He remembered arguments about college, and hugs over dinner after his first night as a DJ. He remembered arguing with his mom about how his suit needed to match his prom date’s dress to how his father had his hand clamped over the dark tailored suit of the boy he took instead. No matter how much the argued or disagreed, he knew he could go back to them. The thought of them turning their back on him left him practically nauseous. He could feel Bertolt try to pull his hand away. He let go so that the taller male could rub at his eyes.

 

“Thanks,” he muttered out, letting his hands rest in his lap. Jean looked over at Reiner who was laser focused on Bertolt, rubbing his shoulder the entire time.

 

“It’s my fault,” he said. The focus was then shifted to the blond. Bertolt shook his head. “I don’t know if you noticed, but Bertolt and I, well, we kind of had a thing.”

 

“We noticed,” everyone said in unison. Bertolt smiled, the first one that they had seen on his face the whole night.

 

“We weren’t really discreet,” he said. Reiner let a small smile slip onto his lips before continuing.

 

“Yeah… well, I wanted to make what we had official, you know? I thought everything would be okay since we’ve known each other so long but when we told his parents, they flipped.” Bertolt sighed. Eren sat back to give him space with Armin following suite. Marco stayed close, his hands still firmly on Bertolt’s.

 

“I wouldn’t have guessed that they were…” Eren trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. Jean could only imagine what was going through the head of a mama’s boy like him. Marco released his hand.

 

“Do you need a place to stay? We can make space for you,” he said. Eren and Armin nodded in agreement.

 

“He’s staying with me,” Reiner started. He let his hand fall from around Bertolt’s shoulders to rub his arm. “We would have been there tonight, but his parents insisted on talking to mine… they just happened to be in town visiting and were staying at my and Annie’s place.”

 

“Where is she, by the way?” Eren asked.

 

“She’s keeping the peace. I actually need to head back, but I wanted him out of there for now,” he said. He gave Bertolt a tight hug and stood up. “Is it ok?”

 

“I’m fine with it, it’s not like you guys haven’t been over before,” Eren said with a smile.

 

“If you want more space, you could come with me,” Jean said. “I live by myself.”

 

“I’ll let you guys figure it out,” Reiner said. He walked to the door and put on his shoes. “I’ll text you later Bertl.”

 

“Ok, drive safe,” the taller male called as he went out the door. Once the door clicked shut but everyone remained quiet. It was a few moments before they all heard the sound of Peanut scratching at Marco’s bedroom door. Jean looked over at the freckled male and had to hold back a laugh at the look of embarrassment plastered on his face.

 

“I’ll be right back,” he muttered. Once the door was opened, Peanut ran toward the couch. He circled around near Bertolt’s feet before pressing it’s tiny front paws on his leg. Bertolt leaned down to pick up the small dog. It settled in his lap, licking his hand before going still.

 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you guys,” Bertolt said. Eren shook his head.

 

“This is way more important,” he said. Marco nodded. Bertolt smiled sadly. He looked down at Peanut, rubbing the top of his head.

 

“I don’t want to be inconvenient to you guys,” he said.

 

“Not a problem for me,” Jean said.

 

“Me neither,” Eren responded. Armin smiled with a small giggle.

 

“How about Marco stays at Jean’s and you stay in Marco’s room,” he said. Eren snorted as he tried to cover drown out his laughter. Jean could feel heat on his cheeks, but he knew it wasn’t anywhere near as visible as on Marco, whose face was practically red. Even Bertolt let out a little chuckle.

 

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Eren said with a wide smirk. Marco composed himself and looked over at Bertolt.

 

“I’m fine with what you want to do. We all just want you to feel comfortable,” he said. Bertolt nodded. Stress crept back onto his face, the mood of the room devolving as well. Jean bit at his lip.

 

“What are you going to do about school?” he asked. Bertolt shook his head.

 

“I don’t know… Recon pays pretty well but there’s no way it’ll cover tuition,” he said. He brushed his hair out of his face, only for the shaggy black strands to fall back into place. “One semester will practically drain my savings.” Jean looked over at the faces of everyone. He let his focus fall on Marco, who had his finger pressed against his lip in thought.

 

“I can talk to the GM at the pet store I work at,” Marco started. He looked up at Bertolt. “You think you can handle two jobs?” Bertolt nodded after a brief pause.

 

“Thank you,” he said. Jean could hear the quiver in his voice. He pat him on the back.

 

“You should get some rest,” Eren said. Marco got up. He went to his room, patting Bertolt on the shoulder as he passed by. It wasn’t long before Marco was back in the living room with a duffle bag slung over his shoulders. Bertolt stood up after carefully setting Peanut down on the couch. Marco walked over to him and wrapped his arms around the taller male in a tight hug. He took a step back once he let go.

 

“You have my number, right?” Marco asked. Berolt nodded. “Text me if you need anything”.

 

“I will, I really appreciate it. It should only be a few days before Reiner’s parents head back home,” he said. Jean said his goodbyes and headed toward the door. Marco was behind him, waving goodbye to his roommates.

 

“We’ll take care of Peanut for you,” Eren called out. Marco quietly shut the door behind him and followed behind Jean. Once they got in Jean’s car, they sat in silence, save for the sound of Marco fiddling with the shoulder strap of his bag.

 

“So,” Jean started. He glanced over at Marco who had his eyes on the strap between his fingers. Jean smiled feeling his brow quirk. “Do you have everything you need?” Marco nodded. He smiled and looked over at Jean.

 

“Thanks for having me,” he said. Jean started the ignition of his car, heat spreading n his face.

 

“No problem,” he muttered out. Jean looked behind him out of habit and reversed out of the parking lot. They sat in silence with only the hum of Jean’s car to break through. Jean would briefly take his eyes off the road to glance at Marco. Jean tapped his finger against the steering wheel, facing forward again. He tried to shake his shoulders to get the tension out of his shoulders. He pulled into the parking lot, thankful that what he dubbed as “his spot” was taken even with how late it was. He pulled in and turned off his car, sticking his keys deep into his pockets. He looked over at Marco, who already had his hand on the handle of the door. Jean followed suit and opened his door. They walked in silence up to Jean’s apartment. It wasn’t until Jean had let him in and shut the door before Marco said anything.

 

“I can take the couch,” Marco said. Jean looked over at his dark colored futon.

 

“It won’t be too uncomfortable for you?” he asked.

 

“Not at all. Besides…” Marco started. He looked over at Jean with a sly smile, an expression that Jean didn’t even know the male could pull. “That’s where Bertolt would’ve had to sleep, right?” Jean laughed.

 

“You did seem pretty quick to accept Armin’s idea,” he said. Marco smiled with a little bit of a chuckle. He set his bag down on the futon and turned to face Jean.

 

“Besides… I know he’s got so much on his mind,” he said. Jean didn’t miss the way Marco’s face fell. Jean stepped forward, his hands on either side of Marco. “I hope he’s going to be ok…”

 

“It’s hard to say… but he’s with Eren and Armin. Armin is a bright guy and Eren, he may be an idiot, but he knows how to handle people,” he said. Marco smiled.

 

“We can talk about it tomorrow, you can come with me to talk to the GM,” he said. Jean smirked. He stepped a bit closer, his smirk growing a bit wider at the blush that dusted the freckles on Marco’s face.

 

“You don’t have class?” he asked, his hands that had been at Marco’s side getting closer to the freckled male’s hips.

 

“A night class… but I’ll have time early in the day,” he said. Jean hummed, letting his hands rest firmly on Marco’s hips.

 

“So… you’re staying on the futon?” he asked. Marco swallowed heavily and looked away.

 

“Not many other choices,” he muttered.

 

“You’ve slept in my bed before.”

 

“That was different.”

 

“How so?” Jean asked with a quirked eyebrow. Marco looked anywhere but at the man in front of him. Jean smiled and pressed his lips on Marco’s forehead. “Don’t worry, I won’t push you. I’ve got some extra blankets and pillows you can use.” He stood up straight and began to turn toward the small closet in his hallway. He felt a tug at his sleeve. He looked down to see Marco had the fabric pinched between his fingers to keep him in place. Jean quirked his brow as he looked between his fingers and the blush on Marco’s face.

 

“There’s space for the both of us?” he asked.

 

“I have a queen sized bed,” he said with a small smile. Marco nodded.

 

“Well, I’m going to change into some pajamas,” he said. Jean smirked.

 

“I’ll be in my room” he said. As soon as he walked into his room he completely deflated onto his bed. He could feel heat seeping from his neck, on his face and even on his ears. All hints of boldness had completely left his body and he was now left a flustered mess. The last time Marco had been in his bed, the freckled male had been completely drunk and was out cold before he got to say anything. They hadn’t even been dating at that time. Jean let out a breath to try and collect his thoughts. He knew that there was no reason to be so stressed out. He shed out of his clothes, sticking to a white tank top and his boxers. He shot up when he heard the door open. Marco stepped into the room with a white t- shirt and what looked like sports shorts that stopped at his knees. Jean motioned toward the bed to let him get in first. Marco awkwardly got into the bed and sat with his back straight against the head board. Jean chuckled and slid into the bed beside him.

 

“You can relax, you know?” he said. Marco smiled and slid down to let his head rest against the pillow. Jean turned his head to face Marco and slipped his hand into Marco’s. The freckled male looked over at him with a small smile. They both turned on their sides so that they could fully face each other. Jean still firmly gripped Marco’s hand.

 

“So…” he started. Marco pursed his lips together.

 

“This is… nice,” he said.

 

“Just sitting here?” Jean asked. Marco nodded.

 

“I mean… I like that I feel comfortable with you.”

 

“Was your last boyfriend, or girlfriend, I don’t want to assume, not that great?” he asked. Marco shrugged. He unconsciously squeezed Jean’s hand.

 

“I mean… I kissed a girl before, but I never really dated or anything like that,” he said. Jean smiled and got closer to him.

 

“Dating isn’t a first for me but… this is new.”

 

“What, dating a nerd?” he asked with a giggle.

 

“No, really taking a relationship this seriously,” he said. Marco bit his lips and looked down. He got a bit closer to Jean, looking up at him. Neither male said anything as the space between their lips got smaller and smaller. Jean stopped briefly when he felt the hesitation from Marco once their lips touched. Jean slowly let go of Marco’s hand let it trail to Marco’s waist. He closed the gap, letting his fingers squeeze the freckled man’s waist. He felt Marco’s hand move and his fingers rest gently on his chest. He deepened the kiss once he felt his fingers. Jean motioned until he was hovering over the male. He could feel Marco’s tongue gently brush against his own. He brushed his hand against Marco’s side, his hand gliding underneath his shirt and up his chest. He separated to catch his breath. He could feel the Marco’s chest rose and fell against his hand.

 

“You good?” he asked breathlessly. Marco nodded. Jean smiled and tugged him close so that his head rested on his chest.

 

“That was nice,” Marco mumbled. Jean smiled with arm slung over his waist in a loose hug. He hummed in agreement letting his cheek rest against the top of Marco’s head. They stayed in that position for a few moments. He could hear his breath even out and Jean chuckled when he heard a slight snore from the man. He leaned back to look at the man’s face. Marco’s eyes were shut with a peaceful look on his face. Jean smiled and kissed his forehead. He adjusted on the bed so that he could follow suit into a comfortable slumber.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make this chapter a little longer, I hope you guys like it! And this chapter alludes to someone using homophobic epithets. I of course, don't use the word, but I just wanted to let people know prior to reading. I don't want this fanfic to cause any harm or trauma to anyone, and different things trigger different people. Anyway, please enjoy!

Jean was the first to wake up. He was on his stomach and facing Marco. He turned as slowly as he could to keep from waking up the freckled male at his side. He clicked the phone on and saw that it was only nine in the morning. Though it was relatively early, he knew that his alarm would be going off in fifteen minutes. He turned off the alarm and rolled back over. He grinned sheepishly when he saw a pair of brown eyes staring up at him.

 

“Heh… I didn’t mean to wake you up,” he said. Marco smiled and rested his head on Jean’s chest.

 

“It’s fine,” he said. Jean rubbed the top of the freckled male’s head, rustling his head. Marco let out a small giggle and Jean wasn’t sure if he could handle the way his heart fluttered around this man.

 

“Alright, get up. You’ve gotta talk to your boss, right?” he said. Marco nodded and sat up. He stretched his arms up with a small groan. His shirt lifted up, exposing the small dip in his back near his tail bone. Jean smirked and pressed his forefinger against the skin, causing the freckled male to jolt with a little yelp. Jean snickered and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. He got up and straightened his shirt. He walked over to his closet and pulled out some jeans and a plain shirt that he wanted to wear for the day.

 

“Does Bertl need to some with you?” he asked, looking back at Marco, who was up and heading toward the door.

 

“Nah, I don’t want to stress him out,” Marco said. “Besides, I want to give my GM time to think about it.” Jean could hear Marco rummaging through his bag. Jean tugged his pants up and walked over to sit back down on the bed.

 

“You can shower while I cook breakfast,” Jean said. He walked out of his room and toward the living room. He opened the first closet in the hallway. There were several towels and wash rags. “Just use whatever you need.” Marco nodded. He had clothes bunched up in his arms as he shuffled over to get the things that he would need for the shower. Jean smiled at him as he walked into kitchen. He set out all of the ingredients that he would need for the breakfast out on the counter. He cut up several strawberries and rinsed off some blueberries. He mixed the eggs, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg together by their desired ingredient amounts. The oil was close by and he spread a little bit of it on the pan he had bought for himself when he first started school. Jean plucked up a piece of Texas toast and dipped it into the mixture. He set it on the already heated pan and flipped it around on occasion. By the time he no longer heard the water running, he had already made three pieces of French toast. Jean put the fourth on the pan and then walked to his cupboard. He pulled out two of his nice plates and two cups that matched. He flipped the French toast and began to set up what he had already done. Once he knew the toast was done, he plucked it from the pan and onto a plate. He placed another on top and then some of the strawberries and blueberries. He did the same for his own plate and set them on the coffee table. This was one of the few times that he regretted not having a dining table. He set the cups down and poured milk into each one. Marco stood at the end of the hallway as Jean got forks and knives.

 

“Do you need help?” Marco asked. Jean turned to him with a smile.

 

“Nah, I’ve already set everything up,” he said. He grabbed a few napkins as well quickly snagging a bottle of syrup and headed back to the coffee table, with Marco close behind him. They both sat down on his futon and out of habit, Jean flipped on the TV. He left it on whatever station he had been watching and turned toward Marco.

 

“I hope you like French toast,” he said. Marco nodded. He had already taken a bite.

 

“It tastes great!” he exclaimed. Jean chuckled and started to eat as well. They chit chatted about almost anything and everything; though both knew that they were avoiding one particular subject. Marco tapped his fork against the side of the plate in thought. Jean looked over at.

 

“So… you’re worried about Bertolt?” he asked. Marco set the plate on to the coffee table.

 

“I’m just…” he trailed off. He looked blankly at the TV before sighing. “I mean, I really want him to be comfortable. And the pet store- it’s great and all and the pay is really good, but I don’t want him to feel pressured to take this job just because I suggested. I mean- I practically pushed him to say yes, right? Oh man, I was so pushy. I didn’t even consider that he may not like all animals. Maybe I should just-”

 

“Ok, calm down,” Jean cut off. Marco took a breath, which was likely the first one he had taken since he started talking. Jean pat his leg after setting down his own empty plate.

 

“I’m sure Bertolt is happy you were looking out for him,” he reassured.

 

“Ok… yeah, it’ll be fine,” Marco said. He stood up and picked up his and Jean’s plates. “I really appreciate the breakfast.” Jean could feel a blush immediately creep onto his face. He rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Yeah, no problem,” he muttered out. They both went to get ready to leave; brushing their teeth, Marco getting his backpack ready for his classes and Jean going to grab his wallet. Jean leaned against the door while Marco tied his shoes. Once he was done, the pair walked out of the apartment, with Jean holding the door. Once they were in the car, Jean immediately plugged in the aux cord and handed it to Marco. The freckled male tentatively took the cord and plugged it into his phone.

 

“Don’t make fun of my music,” Marco said as he scrolled through his phone. Jean smirked and put the car in reverse. He unconsciously nodded his head when he heard the strums of a guitar, a staple for Jose Gonzalez.

 

“ _Crosses_ , huh? Very nice choice,” Jean said. He didn’t miss the slight blush on the male’s freckle dusted cheeks.

 

“He’s one of my favorites,” Marco responded. He fiddled with the edges of the phone.

 

“What’s your favorite album from him?” Jean asked. Marco smiled brightly.

 

“Definitely Veneer, but that could be because _Crosses_ is my all time favorite song of his.” Jean chuckled at the enthusiasm that the male exuded. They sat quietly as the next song played; a melodic tune that he could tell was from a different artist. He let his car roll to a stop as they approached a red light.

 

“So, you think Bertolt can get the job?” Jean asked. He looked over at Marco.

 

“Oh yeah. Even if they weren’t in need of some new employees, I’m sure Bertolt would have get the job.” Jean nodded as he faced forward. The light had just turned green. They drove in relative silence until they reached the pet store. Jean looked at his clock. It was just 10:15. He looked up when he heard the passenger door close. He saw Marco circling around to stop on his side.

 

“This shouldn’t take too long, if you want to wait,” Marco said.

 

“Sure. Hey,” Jean called, just as Marco started to walk away. “What time is your class?”

 

“I have one at three and then another one at 5:15,” he said. Jean smiled at him.

 

“So… uh, we can grab lunch, if you want, that is,” Jean said. He cursed at the way the words awkwardly tumbled out. Any irritation he felt melted away when he looked up to see Marco’s bright smile.

 

“Yeah, definitely!” he said. Marco waved goodbye and walked into the pet store. Jean sat back in his seat and let up his window. He felt... odd. He tried to think of the last time he felt the way that he did. He closed his eyes. He pooled through his memory to try and think of something that was similar; his first girlfriend? No. His first boyfriend? No, not that either. He thought back on every major memory, but nothing stuck out. He tapped his finger against his leg when one particular memory reached out to him. He could still the memory, vivid as ever in his mind. Jean must have been sixteen. His finger gently brushed against the vinyl, the song molding with another. He pressed against the keys of his laptop that he connected his cheap beat maker to. It was clunky and didn’t mesh well together at first, but his heart did summer saults. His whole body felt like it was fluttering. Jean smiled, the feeling fro that memory was exactly what he felt as he watched Marco walk away. He was yanked out of his thoughts when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He fished it out and saw that Eren had texted him, several times in fact. He unlocked his phone and went to his messages.

 

 **Eren:** Yo!! How’d your night with Marco go?

 

Jean felt a twinge of guilt when he realized that he had sent that message hours ago. He saw that the next succession of messages had come, even up until just a few minutes ago. Jean wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed any of them.

 

 **Eren:** Don’t bring him back pregnant!!! ;)

 **Eren:** and cus i know you’re a smart ass, i know dudes can’t get pregnant.

 **Eren:** Heey! Bertl just got a call.

 **Eren:** Is that you and Marco??

 

Jean smiled down at the phone. No matter how much that messy haired brunette pissed him off, that overzealous and exuberance always managed to put a smile on his face. He typed in his response, letting him know that he was waiting outside of the pet store. He nearly dropped his phone when he heard knocks in rapid succession on his window. He rolled the window down and looked up at Marco.

 

“Excited?” Jean asked with a laugh. Marco nodded and quickly made his way to the passenger seat. “Alright, so I guess he can get an interview?” Marco shook his head.

 

“He got the job! They asked me to call him on my phone and they interviewed him right there,” he exclaimed. Jean smiled and turned on his car.

 

“That’s amazing! But, I bet some of that had to do with the fact that you were the one recommending him. Marco smiled sheepishly.

 

“Well maybe, but he also did really well on the spot. I mean, we’re lucky that he was even awake.” Jean chuckled as he put his car in reverse.

 

“Well, I’d say the calls for a celebratory dinner.”

 

***

 

It had been almost a week since Bertolt started his job. When Jean dropped Marco off at his apartment he was able to catch the taller male. Jean didn’t missed how stressed the poor guy looked, but he also knew that his face was practically stuck like that. He felt oddly lonely in his apartment without the freckled male, but he knew that he’d have to push those thoughts away for now. He pressed the headphones to his ear, the crowd particularly loud tonight. He shifted the knobs so that the song mixed with the singer on stage. He knew very little about the woman, aside from the fact that she was the girlfriend of Erwin’s friend, Mike. He thought her name was Nanaba. Whatever her name was, the crowd was losing it for her. He smiled when he saw Connie beside her, rapping out a section that her bandmate would have normally done. Jean glanced up, past the crowd and to the front door. Bertolt had insisted on coming today since they all knew it would be crowded, even though he had just finished training at the pet store and class even before that. From what Marco had told him, if stressed could be personified, then it would manifest as Bertolt. He shifted one of the cross faders to match with the flow of Nanaba singing the chorus. A commotion could be heard near the entrance. He looked over to Erwin, who made the signal to turn up the volume. He saw Erwin turn to his side and nod. It was less than a minute later that Jean saw Levi heading toward the front. Even with the music as loud as it was he could hear raised voices. Several people from the crowd turned from the stage to look behind them. Connie looked confused briefly before raising his microphone.

 

“Alright Nanaba fans! Let me hear you make some noise!” He turned the microphone to the crowd, garnering various cheers. Jean could tell that some of the crowd still had their attention. Nanaba finished her song and the crowd erupted into cheers. The sound drowned out whatever was going on up at the front. But Jean was unable to mask the shock on his face when he saw Eren hop over the bar and run toward the entrance. Armin immediately took over, keeping the customers at the bar entertained. Jean glanced at Connie’s wide eyed expression before the male was able to regain his composure. Connie looked to Nanaba before facing the crowd again.

 

“Give it up for Nanaba!” he shouted. Jean made a few flared sounds from the vinyl to match with the crowds screams.

 

“Now let’s make sure she remembers what it’s like to party. At. Recon!” Connie punctuated each word and Jean made sure to match it. With one final cheer from the crowd, Jean changed the music to an instrumental version of one of Nanaba’s songs that was easy to mix. Connie extended his hand as she walked away, giving a final wave to the crowd. Jean looked toward the entrance. He at first saw Levi with Bertolt. The shorter man had him by the forearm, seemingly pulling him away from the entrance. Levi motioned at someone and then Reiner came into the club. He wrapped his arm around Bertolt’s shoulders and practically dragged him past the bar. Jean could tell that he was leading them to the break room. He glanced over when Connie walked beside him and leaned in close.

 

“You might want to wrap it up,” he whispered. Jean nodded and started to lower the volume. He looked over to Erwin who made a signal to stop the music. Both Jean and Connie nodded. Connie rallied the crowd the way he usually did, telling them that the show was over. Jean didn’t miss the confused mumblings as he lowered the music even more. The club normally kept going, even after an artist had finished. Jean could only assume that the commotion had been something dangerous. It was when Jean noticed blue and red lights flashing outside that the crowd started to disperse without further question. Jean shut off his turntable and began to quickly put away his things.

 

“Yo horse face,” a woman called. He looked down to see Ymir and Christa. He made his way over to the edge of the stage and kneeled down, resting on the balls of his feet.

 

“What’s up with Bertl?” Ymir asked. Jean shrugged. Though the woman looked nonchalant, her arm hanging loosely over Christa’s shoulders; he could see the way her eyes shifted to where Bertolt had gone.

 

“I don’t really know what happened,” Jean said.

 

“We could just hear him yelling at someone,” Christa said. She pursed her lips together. “I’ve never seen him so upset before…”

 

“We can talk about it later. I’m sure Eren will have everyone at his house at some point,” he said. Ymir nodded and began to walk toward the exit. Christa stopped to place her hand over Jean’s.

 

“Please let him know that we’re here if he needs us,” she said. Jean nodded and waited for them to walk away. _She’s such a goddess_. Connie walked over to him with Erwin, Mikasa and Armin close behind.

 

“I need all of you to head to the break room,” Erwin said simply, leaving no room to ask any questions. Jean turned to do as instructed. Once they were out of earshot, he leaned toward Armin.

 

“What’s going on?” he asked. Armin sighed.

 

“I don’t know what started it, but someone got in Bertolt’s face,” he explained. “I hadn’t been really paying attention until I saw Eren jump the counter.”

 

“He’s so reckless,” Mikasa mumbled. Jean frowned. He knew Bertolt well enough. Of their group, Bertolt was the most non- confrontational. Jean doubted it could have been that serious. Once they made it to the break room, Jean carefully pushed the door open. He had half expected to see the two taking advantage of the alone time they had. What he hadn’t expected was to see Bertolt hunched in his seat, his foot rapidly tapping against the floor.

 

“You need to calm down,” Reiner said. Neither male seemed to notice the group as they filed in. Connie quietly shut the door. It was quiet enough so that neither Reiner nor Bertolt heard it. The taller male straightened up in his seat. Jean looked him over. He didn’t see any sign of a fight until he stopped at his hands. The knuckles on his right hand were red, he could even see blood. The group made their presence known as Armin walked up to him. Without bothering to say anything he took Bertolt’s hand. The taller male forced himself to be more relaxed as the blond flipped his hand to look at his palm.

 

“There’s a first aid kit in the bathroom,” Armin said, looking at Mikasa. She nodded and walked toward the door. He quickly added that it was in the employee bathroom. He looked back at Bertolt’s hand.

 

“What happened?” he asked. Jean walked up beside Reiner. Bertolt didn’t say anything, just bit his bottom lip. Jean now felt any doubt he had about the possibility of Bertolt getting into a fight fade away. He seemed unwilling to say anything, or too angry to get the words out. The attention was brought to the door when Mikasa stepped in. Jean looked past her to see Eren walking up behind her. His hair was messier than usual. Jean could piece together how that happened. Mikasa handed the kit to Armin and turned to Reiner.

 

“Levi says the police need a statement from you,” she said. Though she was practically monotone, Jean noted how she looked at Reiner and Bertolt. The burly blond nodded. He pat Bertolt on the shoulder before walking out. Bertolt heaved a sigh, his body practically deflating. He looked over at Eren.

 

“Sorry,” he muttered. Eren shook his head.

 

“That asshole got what he deserved,” Eren practically spat the words out.

 

“Seriously, what happened?” Connie asked. Bertolt ran the hand that Armin wasn’t tending to through his hair.

 

“I… some guy- I’ve never seen him before. I guess he was drunk. He was yelling and screaming about something and Reiner tried to get him to leave. The guy started yelling at me… I tried to keep everything calm, but the he…” Bertolt trailed off. He balled his fists in irritation. Armin pat his hand gently. Bertolt sighed.

 

“I’m sorry. Anyway, he called me… he called me a-”

 

“You don’t have to say it,” Eren said. Bertolt nodded, a sad but appreciative smile played at his lips.

 

“So, after he said that, I kind of blanked out. I know I hit the guy… and I saw Eren. But once everything was calm, I guess? Whatever, so once I snapped out of it, I was in here with Reiner.” Jean turned toward Eren.

 

“So how did you get in the mix?” he asked.

 

“I saw the guy hit Bertolt and I kind of just reacted,” he explained. The group gave their mumblings, most with a resounding “of course”. Even with Bertolt in his agitated state, he was able to give a small chuckle. Jean looked over at him and then walked over to stand by his side. He put his hand around his shoulders. Bertolt looked up at him with a small, sad smile. Armin released his hand once he had cleaned of the wounds on the taller male’s knuckles and pressed bandages on the open ones. They all turned toward the door when they heard it open. Levi stood by the door.

 

“Follow me,” he instructed, leaving little room for question as he immediately turned on his heel. They all filed out of the break room, with Jean closing the door. They stopped walked until they reached the VIP section of the club that was closer to the stage. There were enough seats to hold the entire staff since it was designed to hold a large group. Erwin was already seated in front of the small glass table that was set in the area. Levi walked over and sat down beside him. Jean was seated beside Reiner, who had his arm slung protectively of Bertolt. Erwin sighed as he looked over the group.

 

“To start, is everyone ok?” he asked. The group had their own mumblings of affirmation, save for Bertolt who sat in complete silence. This didn’t go unnoticed.

 

“That’s good. This type of event is a first for us, but as we get bigger and more known artists start to come in, we’ll have better protocols on how to handle it. Bertolt,” he said. He kept his focus on Bertolt, waiting for him to look up. With a long sigh, the lanky man eventually conceded and faced Erwin. The blond’s striking features were softened with a gentle smile.

 

“Are you ok?” Bertolt nodded. Erwin mimicked the action and leaned back in his seat, though he still sat in a formal manner. “That’s good. First, and foremost, I want to apologize for having you in a position like that with no means to properly handle the situation.” Bertolt looked up at him, his face twisted with confusion.

 

“We will have better training on how all of us are to handle a belligerent guest,” Erwin said.

 

“By the way,” Levi interjected. “Eren.” Said male jolted to attention with a loud “Yes sir”.

 

“Chill out. I was just going to say if you plan to hit someone, make sure they swing on you first,” Levi said. “Nile said you could’ve been arrested. You’re lucky that asshole took the attention off of you when he threatened the cops.”

 

“Ah… sorry sir-”

 

“Levi.”

 

“Oh! Sorry, Levi. I hadn’t really… planned it but, yes, I’ll try to- uhm, deescalate the situation instead of reacting.” Levi nodded and turned back to Erwin. The blond cleared his throat.

 

“Yes, these are things we will cover in the training. Now, Bertolt, I want to make this perfectly clear. What that man said and did was completely unacceptable, and he is black listed from this club. I also want to make it clear that I am not punishing you, since the responsibility of giving you the proper training falls on me. I do, however, think that you may be in need of a break; three days paid leave. This doesn’t go on your record as a punishment or misdemeanor. If anything, it’s more like a paid vacation.” He stopped long enough to let the words sink in. Jean glanced over at Bertolt, who had his lips hard pressed into a thin line.

 

“I’m fine to work,” he mumbled out.

 

“I understand, but I want you to give yourself a break. You seem extremely stressed out, and being here may agitate that,” Erwin said. He peered at the man, his gentle smile slowly returning to his face.

 

“There is something that I want to make clear to everyone here. When I hired each of you, it wasn’t to have just anyone fill a space. For as long as any of you work here, and even once you leave, this is a family. I want each and every one of you to know that and feel comfortable.” Levi nodded, a small smile played at his lips. Jean leaned back in his seat with a small smile of his own. He had felt that way about the group for a while; from the arguments, employee dinners and even the occasional drunken night in the break room. He was happy to hear vocalized by their boss. Jean looked over at Bertolt who fidgeted with his fingers.

 

“I’m…” he started. Erwin and Levi looked him over while they waited for him to continue. “I’m having some… family issues,” he said after a brief pause. Erwin nodded.

 

“You don’t have to tell us anything you’re uncomfortable with. We just want you to know that we’re here to listen if you need us to. Do you have a place to stay?” Erwin asked. Reiner piped up at this.

 

“Yes, he’s staying with me,” he responded. Erwin nodded and Levi nodded. The blond stood up.

 

“Well with all that being said, I want all of you to head on home for the night to get some rest. We’ll start the training on the third of October. This will give us time to implement any changes before Halloween.” They all conceded and stood up to leave. Jean looked back at Bertolt who stayed behind to talk to Erwin, Reiner begrudgingly leaving his side. Jean nudged Reiner’s side once the blond had walked beside him.

 

“Is he good?” he asked. Reiner smiled.

 

“Yeah, you know he’s a huge sap and just wanted to thank them,” he said.

 

“That was really sweet, what he said back there,” Armin said. Mikasa nodded tugging at her scarf.

 

“This is the first job where I’ve believed when the boss says that,” she said. They walked back to the employee parking. Connie pulled out his phone.

 

“Ah… Sasha’s bee texting me like crazy,” he mumbled. He called out his goodbyes to the groups as he piled into his car.

 

“Don’t text and drive!” Reiner shouted.

 

“I’m not mom,” Connie retorted.

 

“Hi mom!” Sasha shouted over the phone. Jean could see that he had his phone plugged into the aux cord. Connie rolled up his window with a final wave, and drove off. Jean looked down at his phone was pleased to see that he had gotten his own set of texts.

 

 **Marco:** Hey, I’ll probably be asleep before you’re done. Just hoping your night goes well.

 **Marco:** Oh!! Also, we should go to lunch tomorrow : ) if we get there early enough, we can miss the church crowd.

 

Jean chuckled as he types out his agreement. He looked up and saw Bertolt walking out of the club. Reiner opened up his arms once he got close and pulled him into a tight hug. The remaining group crowded around him.

 

“You good?” Eren asked. Bertolt nodded.

 

“I ended up telling them everything. They told me that I’ve I needed to extend the leave then I could… I probably won’t though,” he said. Jean smiled at him.

 

“I’m sure you know to text any of us if you need anything,” he said. The group nodded. Bertolt’s eyebrows knitted upward.

 

“Thanks guys,” he mumbled out.

 

“Alright, that’s enough emotion for tonight,” Reiner said. “How about I take you home and give you a nice stress relief?”

 

“That’s my queue to leave,” Jean said. He waved goodbye to the group and got in his car. Once he turned the vehicle on, he plugged the aux cord into his phone and glanced at the clock. It was a little past three and he hesitated with his finger over the phone. He pulled out of the parking lot as he unlocked his phone. He scrolled through his contacts. His thumb hovered over the name he desired before he pressed down. The phone rang for a few rings.

 

“Hello?” came the groggy answer. Jean chuckled.

 

“Sorry Marco, I know I woke you up,” he said. He smiled at the airy laugh he heard over the phone.

 

“It’s no problem. How’d it go?”

 

“It was kinda hectic but we can talk about it over lunch. I just wanted to hear your voice before I go to bed.” There was a slight pause before Marco talked again.

 

“That’s really sweet,” he said, though some of the words slurred together from the sleepiness. Jean smiled.

 

“Thanks. Don’t worry, I won’t keep you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“Mhm, love you,” came the slurred reply.

 

“Love you t-” he cut himself and stared wide eyed at the phone. He put his foot quickly on the break when he noticed the light had turned red. Marco had already hung up the phone. Any tiredness had been washed away as his heart did summersaults in his chest. Though the words had been slurred, Jean kept hearing Marco say “love you” repeat over and over in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Bertolt so much! He's my precious little sunflower and he needs to be protected! Lol this second season messed me up, man!


End file.
